Acadian Archives/Archives acadiennes offers varied services

The Acadian Archives/Archives acadiennes at the University of Maine at Fort Kent documents, preserves, celebrates, and disseminates information about the culture, way of life, and history of the Upper St. John Valley. In pursuing this mandate of cultural conservation and affirmation, the Archives focuses particular attention on the Acadian/Franco-American presence. It is a repository for documents of all types: from manuscripts to maps, photographs, microfilms, sound recordings, and videos.

The Acadian Archives is a resource center which serves the University community as well as individuals and organizations regionally, statewide, nationally, and internationally. We offer on-site research assistance for our archival collections, for regional history, genealogy, folklore and folklife. The Acadian Archives houses an exhibit area, a research area, an audio-visual center, the "Coin Français", a library with over 2000 reference books and journals, and two temperature and humidity-controlled storage rooms on the second floor to preserve archival collections. The Archives is also a documentary research development center which researches, documents, and produces studies and collections of regional ways of life and oral history.

One of the missions of the Acadian Archives is educational outreach. It organizes and produces public events, exhibits, and activities to honor and celebrate regional traditions, way of life, and history.

The language policy of the Acadian Archives/Archives acadiennes is that we provide on-site bilingual services, in both English and French.

There are two full-time employees at the Archives: Lise Pelletier, director and Anne Chamberland, assistant. We are open every day of the week, from 8:00 to 4:30. We can be reached at: Acadian@maine.edu and by phone 834-7535.