Newburyport’s French Canadian Community: A Documentary by Jean Foley Doyle

The Museum of Old Newbury will kick off its spring program series with the premier screening of local historian Jean Foley Doyle's latest documentary Newburyport’s French Canadian Community.  The film will be shown at Newburyport's Senior Community Center (331 High Street) on Wednesday, March 6 at 7:00pm, with a reception preceding at 6:30.  The program is free and open to the public, and seating will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis with doors opening at 6:30pm.

Over the past five years, Doyle has created three other documentary films focusing on different aspects of local history.  Each has been a community effort, featuring photographs from a number of institutions and family collections, interviews with local people, and even the occasional performance by local musicians.  Newburyport’s French Canadian Community promises to continue in the same tradition, highlighting and personalizing a piece of local history that has often been overlooked.  John Dodge, Marcia Foley, and Ron Ziemba lent their talents to the project in researching various topics and narrating portions of the film, while editing and production were completed by Caterina Masia Fine Films in collaboration with the Greater Newburyport NCM Hub.  

Newburyport’s French Canadian community took root in the 1890s, when farmers from Quebec arrived to work in Newburyport’s mills and factories during the winter months.  Although some workers stayed only seasonally, many felt they had better opportunities in Newburyport than in Canada, and decided to stay.  Meanwhile, Newburyport’s shoe factories were thriving, and provided jobs for many newly arrived immigrants to Newburyport, including French Canadians.