Tuesday, October 05, 2010

L'Etoile, 1886 - 1957, Lowell, Massachusetts

Today I am working on extracting and translating a few obituaries that I think were published in the Franco-American newspaper L'Etoile.  The word étoile, in French, means star. From the personal collection of Susan Johnson nee Mayotte, the obituaries  I have are .jpg copies of  originals that were clipped out of a newspaper. The text is all in French, so I'm only guessing that they were published in L'Etoile. However, the years of death (1934 & 1938) for the persons the obituaries were written for fit the dates of publication  for this newspaper (1886 to 1957). Also, I believe it may have been the only French newspaper published in Lowell at the time these obituaries went to print. So the likelihood that they were published in L'Etoile, in my opinion, is high. 

L'Etoile is available on microfilm at the Boston Public Library. Also, the Library of Congress states that the Institute Canada-American Bibliotheque in Manchester, NH, has copies of the original newspapers. Where is this Institute Canada-American Bibliotheque? Do they mean the ACGS? I'll have to look into this as Manchester is certainly closer to me then Boston.

Update: After a bit of  research  I am led to believe that L'Institute Canada-American is now called the Association Canado-Americiane. The ACA is a Franco-American fraternal benefit society and, according to their website, they are located at 52 Concord Street in a historic building in downtown Manchester, NH. The ACA shares the building with The Franco-American Centre and I think it is here that I will find those original copies of L'Etoile. I'm going to call them in the morning to confirm this information. Also, I do believe I will be able to find copies of L'Etoile at the Center for Lowell History, located at 40 French St. in downtown Lowell. I have submitted a query asking them if the collection is complete and if the copies are originals or on microfilm, as I would really prefer to view original copies over microfilm.

2 comments:

  1. Michelle - came across yours while researching L'Etoile (I have an original - and complete - 24 October 1936 "Cinquantenaire" edition of the newspaper). Was wondering if you found out if any of the two organizations you mention have hard copies of the newspapers, as I'm thinking of donating the one I have... Michael

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  2. Hi Michael, I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to you. Yes, the Franco American Center does have hard copies of L'Etoile. However, I'm sure the ACGS would just love to receive a donation such as this! It's a great Society, here's the link: http://www.acgs.org/

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