French-Canadian Migration in and out of the Keweenaw

Gary Spikberg presenting his work on French-Canadian Migration out of the Keweenaw

This week Time Travelers Gary Spikberg, Brooke Batterson, and Sarah Scarlett presented their work at a conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba hosted by the Three Centuries of Francophone Migration in North America (1640-1940) project (Which the Keweenaw Time Traveler is a partner). 

Gary presented his work entitled The French-Canadian Migration Experience in the Keweenaw.  His work mapped the outmigration of French-Canadians from the Keweenaw as the region deindustrialized from 1910-1940.  The map below shows where the majority of French-Canadians migrated to, largely the industrial cities of the Great Lakes Region.

French-Canadian Migration from the Keweenaw to other Great Lakes communities from 1920-1930

Sarah and Brooke presented their work entitled "Materializing Social Mobility in the Houses of Francophone Migrants in Michigan's Copper Country".  In their work they highlight how to use homes as a way of understanding how socially mobile (ie- better off) Francophone's were when they arrived in the Keweenaw versus where they came from.  Brooke discussed her oral history project where she has been conducting interviews with French-Canadian descendants with the help of the Chassell Heritage Organization to understand how the French language has disappeared in local families over time.