The schedule for the 2014-2015 Franco-American Centre’s Speaker Series includes the following speakers and topics.

All lectures will be held at the NH Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, 100 Saint Anselm Drive, Manchester NH, on Wednesdays at 7:30 PM.

September 10, 2014
Francis X. Galvin and Vern Taylor will speak on La Société des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux (commonly known as the “40 & 8”) and the “Merci Box Car,”  which is preserved by the Society on  Manchester’s West Side.  This is in anticipation of the annual Celebration of Remembrance of the Merci Train which will be held on Sunday afternoon, September 21.   The Gratitude Train came to America in 1949 as a sign of thanks from the people and regions of France for its postwar rebuilding assistance.

November 12, 2014
Attorney Scott Eaton will speak on “Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – The Man who Wrote Le Petit Prince.” Saint-Exupéry was a French aristocrat, writer, poet, and pioneering aviator during a period when flying machines were made of sticks and fabric. He became a laureate of several of France’s highest literary awards and also won the U.S. National Book award.  He is best remembered for his novella The Little Prince, beloved by generations of both children and adults and one of the top-selling books of all time.  This talk is offered through the cooperation of the New Hampshire Humanities Council.

January 14, 2015
Laurence Armand French, PhD, will speak about his newly published book, Frog Town – Portrait of a French Canadian Parish in New England (University Press of America).  The book is a geopolitical-historical study of “French-Canadians in Yankee Land,” focusing on the Parish of St. Jean Baptiste in Suncook, New Hampshire.  Dr. French is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Western New Mexico University, and is a Researcher and Affiliate Professor at Justiceworks, a research and development group in Justice Studies in the College of Liberal Arts of the University of New Hampshire.

March 11, 2015
Aurore Dionne Eaton will speak on “The French & Indian War – Rogers’ Rangers and the Local Derryfield (Manchester) Connection.”   The talk will provide an overview of the war, focusing particularly on the local New Hampshire men who served in the irregular British unit, Rogers’ Rangers. In particular, it will look at the roles these men played in the war, including taking part in the burning of Quebec farms in 1759 prior to the Battle of Quebec.  Aurore Eaton is the former Executive Director of the Manchester Historic Association and of the Cambridge (Massachusetts) Historical Society, and is a well-known local historian and columnist.

May 13, 2015
Kelley E. Spoerl, PhD, with speak on “Women in the Early Mission to New France,” focusing on several extraordinary women who were involved in the early settlement, development and Christianization of French Canada in the seventeenth century.  Dr. Spoerl is Professor of Theology at Saint Anselm College and received her doctoral degree from the University of Toronto.

Check the calendar for up-to-date details of the Speaker Series.