Many images, which I found in the Lowell Sun newspaper over the years, constitute the very gritty essence of daily life in that textile-mill city on the Merrimack River.
More later.
Here is a brief sample of the many Lowell Sun extracts that accompany the pages of my official memoir book related to my days as a resident of Lowell, Massachusetts from January 1939 to autumn of 1963. These news accounts are included to better assist the reader to feel the daily background noise that clamored the air waves and TV stations of our existence in those hallowed grounds.
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Franco-American School on Pawtucket Street (near corner of School)
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Brief Summary of the Family History
While growing up in Centralville and earlier in Pawtucketville, the years, 1939 to 1963, marked for me the transitional period of changes in my basic, Quebecois (old French) worldview and lifestyle, which went back to the days of the French nobility, i.e. Louis XIV, or around 1650 A.D.
The family name, Bolduc, dates back to the days of the religious wars on the European Continent. Originally, it was Bois-le-Duc according to authoritative sources in the Brabant region of the Netherlands (Pays Bas). However, the reader need not attempt to impute any traces of royalty or even minor nobility hidden in these archives.
Once my destitute, Canadian ancestors successively crossed the frontier between our two neighboring countries, only the stigma of Catholic poverty and English-language-illiteracy held them back from attaining the American-dream of owning a house in the suburbs.
It is at this point that the stories and sagas that I attempt to outline in these pages see the light of day. These are all stories about the day-to-day hassles of people, who have come to our American shores carrying the family baggage of their ancestry such as a native language (Polish, Greek, Irish, French-Canadian, Portuguese, etc.) deep, religious beliefs, and, usually, a basic ignorance of modern, industrial, technological factors.
As a result, these immigrants ended up with lowly jobs and a very limited economic future.
I hope that some familiar chords are ringing through this text.