Acadian Archives

The University of Maine at Fort Kent will host its first-ever Poutine Fest on Wednesday, Oct. 22, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Nowland Hall dining room. The event is open to the public.

Sodexo, UMFK’s food service provider, will serve up a special all-you-can-eat buffet featuring poutine, a classic Canadian comfort food of fries, cheese curds, and gravy. Diners will be able to taste several unique versions of the dish while also learning about its cultural history and deep ties to the St. John Valley.

The luncheon is free for UMFK students with a meal plan and for the first 50 commuter students. General admission is $13.49 per person.

“Poutine Fest is a fun way to celebrate our unique Acadian culture while bringing students and community members together over a favorite dish,” said UMFK Acadian Archives Director Patrick Lacroix.

For more information, contact the Acadian Archives at 207-834-7536 or Lisa Roy at 207-834-7504.

The Acadian Archives at the University of Maine at Fort Kent will host researcher and speaker Donlon Hurtubise for a free presentation on the region’s pioneering families on Oct. 30 at 6 p.m. The event is open to the public.

The presentation, part of the Archives’ genealogy workshop series, will trace the Thibodeau family line. The story follows the family from Port Royal in the 1650s, through the 1755 deportation to Pennsylvania, and migration to Quebec City in 1765, before their settlement in L’Acadie, Quebec, by 1787.

Hurtubise will focus on a recently uncovered aspect of the family’s history: their experiences in the St. John Valley. According to scattered records, this is where Olivier Thibodeau, born in 1755, met and married Marie Cyr, born in 1757, and started their family before they returned to Quebec.

Hurtubise is a Franco-American of Canadian and Acadian descent. After a 41-year career with Exxon Mobil Corporation, he retired five years ago to The Woodlands, Texas, and now researches his predominantly French-Canadian heritage. An active member of several genealogical societies, he has lectured on Acadian history in Houston and Beaumont, Texas, two communities with significant Acadian descendant populations.

“One of the joys of Acadian culture is the connection it offers to folks near and far, from the Valley to southern Quebec and from Pennsylvania to Texas,” said Acadian Archives director Patrick Lacroix. “Donlon will help us navigate through tangled Acadian lines, especially in places where few sources survive.”

For more information, contact the Archives at 207-834-7536 or by email at acadian@maine.edu.

The Acadian Archives/Archives acadiennes at the University of Maine at Fort Kent will host a free public presentation by UMFK Professor of Music and Education Scott Brickman on Thursday, Oct. 23, at 6 p.m.

Professor Dr. Brickman will discuss the musical culture of Latvia, which he personally experienced during a sabbatical in 2022-2023 and many times since. Latvia, located in Eastern Europe, is a former part of the U.S.S.R. with a land area slightly smaller than Maine. Despite a history of foreign control, Latvia has maintained a rich and vibrant culture that continues to provide inspiration to other small nations.

With his characteristic energy, Brickman will provide historical context, share recordings, and discuss how Latvian traditions are expressed today. Attendees will also learn about his Latvian and Polish genealogical journey.

“Scott will broaden our horizons and bring much-needed perspective on small, embattled cultures,” said Acadian Archives director Patrick Lacroix. “In the course of an evening, he will help us forge connections half a world away.”

For more information, contact the Archives at (207) 834-7536 or by email at acadian@maine.edu.

The Acadian Archives, located on the University of Maine at Fort Kent campus, will host its annual Acadian History Lecture Series on February 13th and run each Thursday at 6 p.m. for five weeks.

The entire series will be available virtually through Zoom. These talks will cover about 400 years of Acadian history, from the beginnings of French communities to women’s experiences of displacement to the cultural aftermath of the Congrès mondial acadien.

The upcoming edition will feature experts who study various aspects of Acadian history and culture, including Andrew Beaupre, curator of archeological collections at the Maine State Museum; André-Carl Vachon, author of many works of Acadian history; Anne Marie Lane Jonah, a Nova Scotia-based historian for Parks Canada; Colby Gaudet, cultural historian and recent graduate of Concordia University; and Christina Keppie, director of the Center for Canadian-American Studies at Western Washington University.

“This will be the fourth edition in this virtual format,” explains Patrick Lacroix, Director of the Acadian Archives/Archives acadiennes. “Every year we discover new interest in the Acadian story. In 2024, we had attendees from 21 states and five Canadian provinces. I think that speaks to our presenters’ engaging research, but also to attendees’ deeply felt connection to their past and to the larger Acadian community. We are pleased to fulfill our educational mission and raise awareness about Acadian culture.”

As in past years, the $25 registration fee covers all five talks.

Register online at the Acadian Archives website.

For more information, please contact the Acadian Archives at (207) 834-7535 or by e-mail at acadian@maine.edu.

The Acadian Archives, located on the University of Maine at Fort Kent campus, will host an in-person genealogy workshop on Wednesday, December 4, 2024, at 6 p.m. at the Acadian Archives. The event is free and open to the public.

The workshop will focus on online genealogy databases and the opportunities they hold for people of Acadian and French-Canadian ancestry. Archives staff will offer advice on maximizing searches on well-known databases like Ancestry.com and FamilySearch. They will also show how to make the most of NosOrigines and WikiTree and discuss the immense resources of the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ).

“Genealogical inquiries keep us busy year-round,” states Patrick Lacroix, director of the Acadian Archives. “We share visitors’ excitement about our physical resources. It is easy to lose track of the many new online platforms that complement our holdings. Without being comprehensive, this workshop will feature tips and tricks that can benefit genealogists in their digital research.”

Although not essential, attendees are encouraged to bring a tablet or a laptop. Future events will focus on the Archives’ physical resources, including obituary cards, maps, oral interviews, and family histories.

Seating is limited, and registration is required.

For more information or to register, please contact Patrick Lacroix at acadian@maine.edu or (207) 834-7535.

The Acadian Archives/Archives acadiennes at the University of Maine at Fort Kent will host a presentation entitled “Mūzikas Saknes – Musical Roots” by UMFK Professor of Music and Education Dr. Scott Brickman on Thursday, February 1st at 6 p.m. at the Acadian Archives. The presentation is free and open to the public.

During UMFK’s academic year 2022-2023, Dr. Brickman was on sabbatical – documenting, researching, and participating in Latvian musical culture.

Come and listen to Dr. Brickman share his experiences in Latvia during his sabbatical. He will, in his characteristic idiosyncratic and informal way, sing Latvian songs, talk about his Latvian ancestry, and transmit all that he can about the vibrant musical and cultural life of this wonderful country.

“From the beginning, the Acadian Archives has been a site of cultural education and cultural encounters,” explains Archives director Patrick Lacroix. “With Scott’s presentation, we will be invited to learn about a small community half a world away and reflect on our own.”

For more information, please contact Acadian Archives Director Patrick Lacroix at (207) 834-7536.

The little-known country of Latvia, formerly part of the U.S.S.R. and along with Estonia and Lithuania, one of the three Baltic States, is roughly the size of West Virginia and has slightly less than 2 million people. Latvia has an incredibly rich and varied musical culture.

The Archives acadiennes/Acadian Archives will sponsor a screening of La Frontière, a documentary film on the border regions of Maine, at the University of Maine at Fort Kent on Friday, November 17th at 7 p.m. in Nadeau Hall conference room. The event is free and open to the public.

La Frontière is a documentary film portraying slices of life in northern Maine’s borderlands. This beautifully shot 35-minute film takes viewers on an intimate tour of the culture of the 611-mile border between Maine and Canada. The film is a must-see for cinema connoisseurs and anyone hoping to see northern Maine through a different lens. The film was screened at last year’s Camden International Film Festival in Midcoast Maine.

La Frontière was produced by Katy Haas and Megan Ruffe. A graduate of Smith College, Haas attended the Burren College of Art and the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. She was a co-producer with Florentine Films, a creation of Ken Burns, on Benjamin Franklin (2022), as well as an associate producer on the series Country Music (2019) and an apprentice editor on The Dust Bowl (2012). Ruffe studied film and geography at Penn State University. She, too, has worked on a number of Florentine Films series and, with a small team, is developing UNUM, a new digital project that uses Florentine’s library to bring historical context to current events. La Frontière also features cinematography by Lindsay Taylor Jackson and Jared Ames.

“We’re very grateful for the filmmakers’ willingness to share their work with our community,” said Patrick Lacroix, director of the Acadian Archives. “Katy and Megan offer us new ways of seeing and understanding our borderland region.”

A question-and-answer session with the producers will follow the screening. Snacks will be available for attendees.

For more information, contact Patrick Lacroix at the Acadian Archives at (207) 834-7536.

The Acadian Archives/Archives acadiennes at the University of Maine at Fort Kent will host a book talk on Along Route 1: Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts by accomplished writer Susan M. Bregman on Thursday, July 13th at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

“If any road can match the imagery and significance of Route 66, it’s unquestionably Route 1,” says Patrick Lacroix, director of the Acadian Archives. “Bregman’s in-depth research and the photos she collected are sure to captivate those of us living near Route 1. Her talk will help us see through a century of change in northern Maine and beyond.”

Along Route 1 chronicles the long, rich history of one of America’s most iconic thoroughfares. Bregman’s focus on Route 1’s northernmost span reveals a fascinating mix of famed motels, eateries, amusement parks, and drive-in theaters; it also tells the story of long-distance travel and the possibilities opened by the automobile and urbanization.

Route 1 has mirrored social and economic change across the region, and the book reflects both loss and survival. Along Route 1 includes a large number of photographs that were contributed by historical societies, museums, libraries, universities, and private collections. With Fort Kent being home to Route 1’s “First Mile,” the St. John Valley is well-represented in the book. Along Route 1: Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts is currently available from South Carolina-based Arcadia Publishing.

Writer and photographer Susan Mara Bregman is the author of Arcadia Publishing’s New England Neon and New England Candlepin Bowling. A native New Yorker, she moved to Boston after graduating from college and never left. The author will discuss her research and her findings and take questions.

For more information, please contact Acadian Archives Director Patrick Lacroix at (207) 834-7536.

The Acadian Archives/Archives acadiennes is the premier center for the study of Acadian history in New England and serves as one of the many cultural hubs in the St. John Valley.

The Acadian Archives/Archives acadiennes at the University of Maine at Fort Kent will host an art exhibit titled “A Bit of This and a Bit of That” through the end of August. The exhibit, featuring paintings of an assortment of subjects, animals, people, and outdoor vistas, showcases the work of locally renowned artist Lulu Pelletier. The exhibit is free and open to the public.

Pelletier is a native of Fort Kent. Having painted from an early age, Pelletier explains, “I was encouraged by friends and family to continue learning, and as a result, I still to this day love to learn and apply new techniques from other artists.”

Noted Canadian artist Claude Picard was among her teachers. Pelletier earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Maine at Presque Isle. In 2008, UMFK honored her with the Gretchen Prize for exceptional industry and imagination in the Fine Arts.

Pelletier is well-known for her realistic portraits, but her portfolio includes other subjects, including scenics and animals. She works on commission and also teaches others how to find their artistry in painting. Her illustrations have appeared in a number of books.

“We’re immensely thrilled to promote and recognize local talent,” said Patrick Lacroix, director of the Acadian Archives. “Lulu’s work is expressive and joyful and always worth rediscovering.”

The Acadian Archives will host an opening reception to mark the launch of Lulu Pelletier’s exhibit, “A Bit of This and a Bit of That,” on Thursday, May 25th, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The exhibit will then be open to the public during the Archives’ regular business hours.

For more information, please contact Acadian Archives Director Patrick Lacroix at (207) 834-7536.

The Acadian Archives/Archives acadiennes is the premier center for the study of Acadian history in New England and serves as one of the many cultural hubs in the St. John Valley.

Dr. Patrick Lacroix, Director of the Acadian Archives/Archives acadiennes at the University of Maine at Fort Kent, will host a five-week lecture series titled Acadian History and Culture starting on February 23, 2023, through March 30, 2023. (except for March 16th). All lectures during the series will be via Zoom on Thursdays at 6:00 p.m.

Among the scholar speakers are a Nova Scotia-based archeologist who will share findings from work in the Grand-Pré area, a renowned historian who’s authored a book on the deportation, and a researcher who will share connections between the U.S. War of Independence and the Maritime borderlands.

“We’re immensely pleased to showcase various facets of Acadian culture and history,” says Patrick Lacroix, the director of the Acadian Archives. “With such renowned scholars as Jonathan Fowler and Christopher Hodson and other knowledgeable speakers, our audience will have an incomparable learning experience.”

The cost for the complete lecture series is $25.00 per person. You may register online at https://www.umfk.edu/offices/archives/acadian-history-lecture/.

The deadline for registration is Tuesday, February 21st.

For more information, contact the UMFK Acadian Archives/Archives acadiennes at (207) 824-7536 or patrick.lacroix@maine.edu.