This six foot bronze statue is in the park called Notre Renaissance Francaise, off the Nashua River near the Main Street bridge and Water Steet in Nashua, New Hampshire. This sculpture by Christopher Gowell pays homage to both the French Canadian community and the female millworkers who toiled in the textile mills along the rivers in Nashua. This park was dedicated on 19 May 2001 by Governor Jean Shaheen.
The child is holding a book written in French. The woman has a cross around her neck, and a weaving shuttle in her pocket.
“Il semble pour nous que c’est le temps
Qu’on se réunisse ensemble,
Pour célébrer notre heritage,
Pour renouveler la fin d’un age.”
- Le Troisième Centième: Une Reconnaissance Franco-Américaine
“It’s time for us to reunite,
All of us together,
To celebrate our heritage,
To renew our memories of a bygone era.”
-The Third Century: A Recognition of Franco-Americans
The following names are on the base of the statue:
Le Familles de...
Maurice Emile Chagnon
Emile & Doe Chagnon
Claude & Rhona Charbonneau
Fernand & Linda Vachon
Philip D. & Fances Labombarde
Joyce & Maurice Arel
Joseph A. & Mary S. Bellavance
Gilles & Jackie (Gagnon) Champagne
Roger Couture ~ R & C Welding
Andre A. Alice (Thibeault D'Amours
William & Therese M. Dube
J. Hervey & Marie (Pare) Durocher
Hon. Roger L. Gaulthier
Dr. Charles & Meri Goyette
Clermont & Raymond Labonte
Eugene & Pierrette Lemieux
David & Donnalee Lozeau
Marcel & Cathy Ouellet
Richard & Cecile (Damour) Pelissier
George & Betty Pelletier
Gerard R. & Estelle Prunier
Claude C. & Lisette A. Rancourt
Thomas & Diane (St. Onge) Tessier
Tibault, Houle & Francoeur
Jean Guy & Jeannine Tremblay
Marcel Trepanier
In Loving Memory of - Jamais Oublie
Alphee & Alvida Babineau
Louis A. Biron 1861 - 1947
Thomas & Anne Marie (Roy) Bissonnette
Romeo Briand Jeanne D'arc Gravel
Yvette Leda (LaBombarde) Chagnon
Julienne (Duchesneau) Dube, 1915 - 1976
Oscar & Irene Grandmaison
Clara A. Deschamps Houde, 1868 - 1952
Jean Denis Jacques, 1941 - 1998
Florette Aldea (Jean) & Louis P. LaFontaine
Mathias R. Laurien de Lowell, 1902 - 1970
Luc & Laure (Beaulieu) Ouellet(te)
Gerald A. Robert 1946 - 1999
Albert & Melina St. Laurent
Fernande Chomard Wingate, 1925 - 1996
An article from the Nashua Telegraph 2010
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/742717-196/french-canadian-groups-plan-9th-gathering-in.html
Click here for an earlier blog post about a similar statue in Manchester, New Hampshire:
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/02/millie-mill-girl-of-manchester-new.html
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Copyright 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo
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