Société historique du Madawaska
History and raison d’être of the Société historique du Madawaska
In the fall of 1951, Father J. Aurèle Plourde, now Archbishop Emeritus of Ottawa, having returned to his home after four years of study in France and in Ottawa, founds the School of Social Sciences at the Université Saint-Louis. On September 6, 1953, as part of the school`s patriotic learning sector, a group of people from the Diocese of Edmundston meet in the lounge of the Université Saint-Louis to lay the foundation for an Association for Adult Education. The first realization of this association is the founding of a Regional Historical Society which would become the Société historique du Madawaska.
A steering committee of seven members was formed. These people played an important role in Madawaska. They were J. Gaspard Boucher, Father Ernest Lang, Robert Pichette, Father Eymard Desjardins, Henri A. Albert, Alexander J. Savoie and Dr. Albert-Marie Sormany.
The Société has always aimed for the preservation and enhancement of Madawaska patrimony with built heritage as well as with the written documents serving the history of the region.
After difficult periods in the 1950s and 1960s, the Société Historique got a new lease on life, following the publication of a periodical in 1971, a publication that is now in its thirty-seventh year. Over the years La Revue de la Société historique du Madawaska has contributed to bringing its members closer together and to raising awareness of the minor and the major history of Madawaska. The Société also participated in key projects such as the republishing of the book Histoire du Madawaska written by Thomas Albert, the construction of the Historical Museum, the establishment of a documentation and study center, the Centre de documentations et d’études madawaskayennes, the reconstruction of the Fortin du Petit-Sault, (the Little Falls Blockhouse) and many others. It is especially proud of its periodical, La Revue historique, which allows students at the Université de Moncton, Edmundston Campus, as well as others, to see their research published.
Jacques G. Albert
June 27, 2009
More information about the Société historique du Madawaska
A list of articles from 1971 to 2008 of the Revue de la Société historique du Madawaska (SHM) is available in a Word file.
The description of the SHM (Société historique du Madawaska) Collection dated 2002 is available at the following Internet address: http://www.umoncton.ca/umce/files/umce/wf/wf/pdf/fonds_3.pdf
Here are the collections recently acquired by the Société historique du Madawaska
- Studio Laporte Collection
- Fraser Collection
- Jean-Marc Lafontaine Collection
- Rolande Couturier Collection
- Railroad Workers Collection
- Fish and Game Association Collection
Further information related to the Société historique du Madawaska is available at the following Internet address: http://www.umoncton.ca/umce/node/197.
