A new website explores French Canadian and Franco-American heritage in Salem, Massachusetts, a destination for many people from Quebec during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Between 1840 and 1930, about 900,000 French-speaking Canadians left Quebec to find work in the United States. Many were drawn to New England’s manufacturing industries, including the textile mills and leather factories in Salem.
Visitors to the website, which was created by volunteers, will discover sections on a self-guided walking tour, oral histories, history of Franco-American Salem and St. Joseph parish, the Great Fire in 1914, and recipes. The section on oral histories leads directly to resources on the Salem State University website.
According to text on the home page, the information on the website is “rooted in community-based research,” and made possible with assistance from participants of the Franco-American Oral History Project at Salem State University, along with contributions of stories, memories and photos shared by members of the Richelieu Club of Salem, the Club Richelieu Nord de Boston, and alumni of St. Joseph’s and Ste. Chretienne’s high schools in Salem.
