On Monday, May 20, the Museum of Work and Culture and the Woonsocket Harris Public Library invite families to discover the tough choices French Canadians faced in making the decision to immigrate to the United States, with the Decision to Leave, an immersive education program for students of all ages.
The Museum of Work and Culture – May 20th, 10:00-11:00am
Located at 42 South Main Street. The program will begin at the Museum at 10:00am, where families will gather in the farm house exhibit to engage with a living history interpreter and learn more about her family’s decision to leave their home in Canada. A Museum guide will teach participants more about life on the farm, the challenges families faced transitioning to their new way of life, and lead a discussion about what choice students would make living in those conditions.
Travel from the Museum to the Library where the program will continue.
The Woonsocket Harris Public Library at 11:30-12:30pm Located at 303 Clinton Street where families will have the opportunity to explore Woonsocket’s textile history with a sewing craft. Then join staff for a sewing craft, use the light board to trace a picture to color, explore local history websites with our iPads and using the green screen put yourself in the historical photo. Come in period dress for extra fun! Light refreshments including water & fruit will be served.
Space is limited and registration is required.
Please email mowc@rihs.org to reserve a spot for your family.
Winners are invited to share their poems at Open Mic Poetry night 7-8:30pm.
Thursday May 30th 5-7pm
Kids get FREE Books, Snacks and Activities!!! Come join the fun.
Snacks & activities will be provided by the Rotary Club of Woonsocket.
Books will be provided by Books Are Wings.
While you are waiting for your turn at the free book table,
Visit our craft table and make something to take home.
Books and activities are suitable for families with children ages 4 and up
Children under 12 must be with an adult caregiver at all times.
No registration necessary walk-ins are welcome.
Sponsored by Books Are Wings and the Rotary Club of Woonsocket
Come and meet 20-30 RI Authors who will be here with their great books, available for purchase and signing for all ages. Free event in the main program room.
French Canadian presentation runs 1-2:30pm., Dr. Leslie Choquette, Director of the French Institute, Assumption College, Worcester, Massachusetts and author Jackie Finn. Book is titled: From Habitants to Immigrants: The Sansoucys, the Harpins, and the Potvins. This is the story of the lives of two, eventually three, French Canadian families from their settlement by soldiers in the Richelieu Valley of Quebec in 1665 to their immigration to the mill towns of Massachusetts at the turn of the twentieth century. Told generation by generation, the book portrays the military expeditions of the Carignan-Salières Regiment sent by King Louis XIV of France to quell the marauding Iroquois, the colonization of the soldiers in the Canadian wilderness, the dependence on a family economy with all hands working through the seasons, the pain of epidemics, famine, war, the loss of French Canada to England and the ensuing cultural conflicts, and ultimately, the end of available farmland which led to emigration and the creation of a Franco-American diaspora in New England. Free and open to all.