50 Years of the Franco-American Collection: An anniversary exhibit and party

The Franco-American Collection at the University of Southern Maine (USM) has been preserving and promoting the culture and history of Maine’s Franco-Americans for nearly 52 years! In honor of our 50+ anniversary, we are holding a celebration at 51 Westminster St. in Lewiston on Wednesday, February 28, 2024 at 6:30 pm. The anniversary party will serve as the opening of our anniversary exhibit: 50 Years of the Franco-American Collection, co-curated by USM staff and members of our community board. 

The exhibit opening party will feature a reception with appetizers, drinks and a bar, held in the beautiful atrium gallery at the USM Lewiston-Auburn Campus, where the exhibit will be on view until mid-May 2024. Current and former members of the Franco-American Collection staff and board will be recognized, as will our members– highlighting those who contributed to our 50th anniversary membership drive this year! Interim board chair and former staff member James Myall will give remarks on the history of the Collection, and USM Provost Dr. Georita Frierson will speak about the importance of living archival collections like ours to the university and wider community in Lewiston-Auburn and Maine more broadly. 

For more information or to register for this event, contact the FAC archivist, Anna Faherty at anna.faherty@maine.edu or by phone (207) 753-6545. If you have questions about disability access or need to request disability accommodations (e.g. sign language interpreters, materials in electronic format, etc.), please contact Anna. Requests should be made as soon as possible to allow sufficient time for the accommodation process.