Franco-American Identity at the University Of Maine

Nineteenth-century Franco-Americans enjoyed a rich cultural heritage buttressed by parish, community, and family institutions. Faced with pressures to assimilate, Francos abandoned “la survivance ”- strategies for preserving Franco identity in the 1920\u27s. In the 1960\u27s Franco-American students at the University of Maine responded to a national upsurge in civil rights activism and ethnic and gender consciousness by organizing the Franco-American Resources Opportunity Group (FAROG). The Group\u27s accomplishments - a university resource center, a curriculum in Franco-American studies, and a journal with international readership - testified to revitalized Franco-American identity in the 1970s. Michael Brown, a native of Tachikawa, Japan, received a M.A. in history from the University of Maine in 1992 and a J.D. from Temple University School o f Law in 1995. He has published articles on Maine civil rights and Franco-American ethnicity a n d currently resides in Seattle, Washington