The University of Maine: Department of Franco American Studies



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Resources for the study of Franco America at The University of Maine, Orono

The Raymond H. Fogler Library is the central library at the University of Maine. It is the largest research library in Maine, with collections and services supporting the faculty, students, and staff of the University as well as residents of the State of Maine. It houses a large collection of primary and secondary sources on Franco America. This bibliography lists key titles held by Fogler. It is by no means complete but is provided only as a helpful beginning guide. Further research can be done through URSUS, Fogler Library's on-line catalogue. URSUS relies upon the Library of Congress Subject Headings, which unfortunately does not provide one search term that encompasses all of Franco America. When searching URSUS, be sure to think creatively! Here are some suggestions: Franco America(ns), Acadia(ns), Cajun, French Canadians, French American, Quebec emigration, or towns with large Franco American populations (e.g. Lowell, Lewiston, Worcester).

The Special Collections Department in Fogler Library also has many primary documents. It is a repository for Maine related material. Virtually all available printed bibliographical, historical, and descriptive works on the state as well as literary titles by Maine authors are housed in this department. Books, pamphlets, state documents, and other forms of printed material provide extensive coverage of Maine's cities, towns, counties, and her people and institutions. Places to begin looking for Franco American topics in Special Collections: specific town histories (e.g. Biddeford, Old Town), genealogies, Normand Dubé's papers, Charles Stewart Doty's papers, Maine Newspaper Archives, and the Archives Database that searches simultaneously the collections at the Maine Folklife Center in Orono, the Acadian Archives at UMFK, and Special Collections in Orono. Special Collections also offers a research guide for those interested in the study of Franco American genealogy. The Fogler Library has begun to expand their holdings of Franco American newspapers. Most are on microform and can only be accessed on campus. Not all of these titles are indexed in Fogler Library's on-line catalogue, URSUS.

The Maine Folklife Center is the nation's leading collection of folklore, oral history, traditional music, and photographs of Maine and Eastern Canada. The Archive's holdings include over 8,000 photographs and 2,500 tape-recorded interviews. This finding aid (in PDF format; an alternative Microsoft Word format can be viewed here) gives a general overview of their Franco American collection.

The Women in the Curriculum and Women's Studies library on campus houses a number of videos concerning Franco American women.

The Franco-American Centre Franco-américain on the Orono campus serves for many as a kind of cultural home base. The Centre houses a large library of primary and secondary sources, videos, and a genealogy reference room. It publishes Le Forum, which reaches a wide cross section of the North American Franco population and draws written contributions from the same broad constituency. The Center maintains an active network of contacts with Franco organizations and community leaders throughout the state and the Northeast, and in Quebec and the Maritimes.