NORTH SMITHFIELD – The neighboring communities have a shared history, and those who hope to preserve and document it have worked together bring that story to the public, each in their own way.
Just in time for the 25th anniversary of the Museum of Work & Culture comes Episode 3 of Slatersville, America’s Mill Village, which features how the immigration of French Canadians influenced development of both the village and neighboring Woonsocket.
Anne Conway, director of the city-based museum, worked with Slatersville director Christian de Rezendes to highlight the experience of those who settled in the region, drawn by industrialism and the work it promised.
“People came to the area to work in the textile industry,” explained Conway. “Whether you settled in Woonsocket or North Smithfield, everyone brought with them their culture, their language, their faith, and came seeking a better life. They were faced with the same issues.”
For 25 years, the museum has sought to educate visitors on the story of those immigrants and how they adapted to – and ultimately changed – the Blackstone Valley.
“We recreate the journey,” Conway said.
Dubbed “The Great Change,” Episode 3 in season one of de Rezendes’s documentary series features an interview where Conway describes the experience of the roughly 1 million people who left behind their lives in Quebec.
“It was strictly an economic decision,” she explained this week. “People were very poor, and there was such a demand in the area for workers because of manufacturing.”
The episode, which premieres this Friday, Sept. 30 at 8 p.m. on Rhode Island PBS, focuses in part on the ties between the area mills.
“When it came to the French Canadian history of Slatersville, it was clear that we had to delve into the history of Woonsocket, because so many Quebecois settled there,” de Rezendes said.
Conway, who has worked at the museum since it first opened in 1997, was herself was born in Quebec City and speaks French fluently.
“He wanted me to do the interview in French,” she said of the filming, which took place inside the museum at 42 South Main St., Woonsocket.
“It became the dominant language in Slatersville as the French Canadian population from that city spilled over into the village,” de Rezendes explained. “By the turn of the century, most of the workforce in Slatersville was non-English speaking, so hearing the language is paramount to understanding the world that once existed.”
The episode airs just as Conway prepares for MoWC’s 25th anniversary gala, scheduled for Saturday, Oct 15. The event will come with the launch a new exhibition that also highlights the ties between the museum and the ongoing series called, “Hollywood Comes to Woonsocket.”
“Woonsocket used to be a prime destination for artists from everywhere,” Conway said
As a filmmaker, she notes, de Rezendes has a role in bringing Woonsocket to a wider audience, and the exhibit will showcase his work as local artist, with the Slatersville trailer showing on rolling basis.
The exhibit is the latest in the facility’s ongoing effort to broaden its focus beyond the just dominant French-Canadian population.
“When the museum first opened, the focus was very much the French Canadian experience,” Conway said, noting that by 1920, 70 percent of Woonsocket’s population shared the culture. “There’s always going to be that strong component.”
But the demographics of Woonsocket have changed over the last 25 years, and Conway noted that new exhibits aim to be more inclusive of the experience of other ethnic groups. Exhibit and Program Coordinator Deborah Krieger recently worked with some in the city’s Latino communities for an exhibit on a guest worker program in 1940s. The museum offers a guided tour in Spanish every weekend, and future plans include featuring the history of Jewish community in Woonsocket.
“It’s a very welcoming museum and it’s important to us that visitors feel that their stories are reflected,” said Conway. “We want to continue in that vein as we move into the next 25 years.”
Catch Conway and the museum in the second half of Episode 3. Following the live broadcast, episodes are also available from any location on the globe, on demand, here.
NRI NOW will offer highlights from each weekly episode of Slatersville through the season conclusion on Friday, Oct. 14. Read features on Episode 1 here and Episode 2 here.
