French Canadian Heritage Day

October 1 2016 | 11:00am to October 2 2016 | 3:55pm

In 2013, the Michigan House of Representatives proclaimed the week between September and October of each year to be French Canadian Heritage Week. For the third year, the Detroit Historical Society will celebrate with a French Canadian Heritage Day. Join us for free, family-friendly activities that celebrate our region’s French heritage. 

11 am Learn what it was like in early Detroit from a French Voyager

12 pm Diane Sheppard, researcher with the French Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan, will present “Key Events from Detroit’s Early History and their Impact on Members of Detroit’s Founding Families”

1 pm Dr. Karen Lynn Marrero, associate professor of history at Wayne State University, will share her talk “Angelique’s World,” which provides an overview of French and Native women’s lives and activities in early 18th-century Detroit

2 pm  Dr. Jay Gitlin, Yale University professor whose work focuses on the history of the French in the Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes, will provide a presentation entitled “Remembering and Forgetting Le Detroit: The Franco-American Bicentenary Committee of 1901, Cadillac’s Chair and the Emergence of Motown”

3 pm Musical group the Trois Bouffons will entertain with French Canadian music, storytelling and community dancing!

Admission to the museum and the event is free, although parking fees will apply.