Celebrate French Heritage

For those of you with French heritage or an interest in French history/genealogy, two events are scheduled in the next few weeks in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri.

The first, sponsored by New France: the Other Colonial America, honors one of the founding pioneers of Ste. Genevieve, Louis Bolduc. In fact, Saturday, 26 August is Louis Bolduc Day, and there will be an all-day celebration at the Louis Bolduc House Museum beginning at 9:45 a.m. with registration. This is a family day, and children are most welcome. A scavenger hunt begins at 10 a.m. and, at the same time, the Linden and Bolduc houses will be open for tours. From 11 to 12:30 p.m., a party with sweets, games, and balloon animals will take place at the Linden House. At 1:30, you can take a special curator tour of the Bolduc house to learn more about the house's construction and history. Finally, at 3:00, Yan Bolduc, a historian and descendant of this colonial family, will present a genealogy lecture.

Admission for the day is $9 for adults and $4 for children. More information at https://www.frenchcoloniallife.org/calendar/.

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Also in Ste. Genevieve but a month later, the Foundation for Restoration of Ste. Genevieve will hold their annual fall history conference. The three-day event begins on Friday 22 September with a reception and continues on Saturday, 23 September with a full day of lectures from six different speakers. The lectures focus on John Scott, Missouri's first U.S. representative; Louis Bolduc and Agathe Govreau; The Battle of St. Louis and the attack on Cahokia; the Dodge family in the Mississippi Valley; the Green Tree Tavern in Ste. Genevieve; and diversity in the town in the 1770s. The conference concludes on Sunday, 24 September, with a tour of the Louisiana Academy, Missouri's first school of higher education.

A registration fee of $50 includes the reception, continental breakfast and lunch on Saturday, and Sunday's tour. Register prior to 16 September to guarantee your place and meals. Registration form and more information at https://www.historicstegen.org/fall-history-conference/.

(Thanks to Mary Lee Chivetta for alerting us to the September conference.)