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Episode #86-August 1, 2019

Today we continue our virtual tour on the second floor of the Museum of Work & Culture in Woonsocket, RI [see episode #85 for Part I] with a look at a baseball legend, a triple decker, a parochial classroom, and a union hall. Of particular interest to genealogists are the Mills along the Blackstone exhibit, the Mill Memory Bank, and the Catholic schools archives.

Museum of Work & Culture-Part 2

Anne Conway and I moved up to the second floor of the Museum of Work & Culture, which is completely ADA compliant.

The first exhibit showcases a favorite leisure activity for the immigrants – baseball. Every mill had its own team. This display highlights champion Napoleon Lajoie, a Hall of Famer.

The next exhibit, a parlor in a triple decker, was my personal favorite. Often, all three apartments were inhabited by members of the same family. This allowed relatives to look after the children while parents were at work.

The Mills along the Blackstone exhibit is next. An electronic touch-table with hot spots shows where each mill is located. When you touch the hot spot, you can learn about the history of that particular mill. If you had ancestors working in a Woonsocket mill, you definitely want to visit this exhibit.

The Mill Memory Bank provides genealogists with oral histories from former mill workers. You or a former mill worker you know can pick up or download a questionnaire and tell your or their story. To view the exhibit, you can search by name or mill. Searching by mill allows you to see if any of your ancestor’s friends has a biography in the Memory Bank.

Your next stop is a parochial classroom from the 1920s. Morning classes were usually in French; afternoon classes were in English.

La Sentinelle movement was a difficult time for French-Canadians in Woonsocket. The Irish Catholic bishop at the time wanted French-Canadians to financially support English language schools. The Woonsocket newspaper, La Sentinelle, led the movement against the Bishop. Many French-Canadians were excommunicated.

For researchers, there is a Catholic school archives. Binders of information were collected from over fifty Catholic schools. These schools were not only from Rhode Island, but from other states as well. You can forward any information you have about a Catholic school in America to be included in the archives.

Next, there is a tribute to the mill owners, some who came from France and Belgium, and the first French-Canadian governor of Rhode Island, Aram Pothier.

Your next stop is the ITU Hall for the Independent Textile Union. During the late 1920s and 1930s, unions became more powerful. They fought for better working conditions in the mills. They also helped the immigrants learn English and apply for citizenship. “La survivance” remained at home, but the immigrants became part of the melting pot at work.

Your last stop is the Changing Gallery which currently showcases local fifth graders’ pride in Woonsocket.

What will genealogists take away from a visit to the museum?

Social history
Oral histories
Local history

Museum’s future

Keeping up with technology
A new module on the power of water
Providing programs for people of all abilities (including a sensory-reduced atmosphere for people with autism) and the ability to aid people with visual impairments

Museum information

Hours: Tues-Fri, 9:30-4:00; Sat, 10-4; Sun, 1-4; closed Mondays and major holidays
Website: www.rihs.org
Phone: 401-769-9675
Location: 42 South Main St., Woonsocket, RI

Announcements

Vacation

I will be on vacation later this month, so there will be no September episode. See everyone in October!

Journal Rundown

From vol. 40, #3, of Habitant Heritage (French-Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan):

• Engagés Contracts to Detroit – 16 April 1752 to 23 April 1752 – Part 28
• 18th Century Engagé Contracts to the Great Lakes and Beyond (excluding Detroit): 28 May 1731 to 18 June 1731 – Part 15
• Confirmations at Québec, this Easter Tuesday, 4 April 1684: Conclusion
• Contract of Marriage between Sr. Étienne Volant dit Radisson and Damselle Geneviève Letendre 9 December 1693, sous seing privé (as a private document) at Sorel, Filed in the Documents of Notary Jean Baptiste Adhémar, 17 Jul 1732
• Nicolas Pelletier to Jean François Pelletier dit Antaya – Part II – Nicolas Pelletier
• Beaudin – Bodoh – Bodeau: Using DNA Evidence to Solve a Genealogical Roadblock Caused by Anglicization of a French-Canadian Name – Part I
• What’s in a Name? Jeanne Sacquespée and her Norman Roots

French-Canadian News

The French Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan

August 10, 10 AM, the annual ceremony at Mount Elliott Cemetery to honor those buried from Ste. Anne du Détroit.

September 14, at 11 am at the Mount Clemens Public Library, Guillaume Teasdale will do a short reading and sign his book Fruits of Perseverance. Following will be the Annual French-Canadian potluck.

The Franco-American Centre

August 10, from 11 am to 2 pm at Lafayette Park in Manchester: Acadian Family Day and Picnic.

August 20, from 6-10 pm at Madear’s Manchester: Halfway to Mardi Gras . This is a mid-summer celebration of Cajun music and food.

The Quebec Family History Society

September 14, 10:30 AM, at the Briarwood Presbyterian Church Hall in Beaconsfield: Family Memories. Several members of the Quebec Family History Society will speak about interesting items/events from their families’ past that they have discovered. Come and join in the discussion.

The French-Canadian Genealogical Society of Connecticut

November 10, 1:30 – 4:30 PM, at the Tolland Lodge (about a mile from the Library): a silent and live auction with a French Canadian Auctioneer, singing and playing French Canadian Folk music (on the fiddle, guitar and violin), and refreshments to raise money for the LeGrow Family Scholarship and for the general operating fund.

The American-Canadian Genealogical Society

September 28, 8 am to 3 pm, at the Puritan Restaurant in Manchester, New Hampshire: Fall Conference with three talks from two guest speakers:

Michael Leclerc: French-Canadian Notarial Records
Michael Leclerc: The Seigneurial System in Quebec
Patrick Lacroix: Finding the First Franco-Americans in Upstate New York

Northern New York American-Canadian Genealogical Society

September 28, at the Civic Center in Dannemora, NY: Fall Conference. There will be two presentations:

Nancy Smith: Find the Hidden Women
Julie Dowd: Searching for Civil War Ancestors

The Minnesota Genealogical Society’s Canadian Interest Group

August 18, 1-3 pm, at the Minnesota Genealogical Center in Mendota Heights: Indian Adoptees – Tracking Tribal Affiliation

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