UMFK Acadian Archives will host a forum on travel restrictions during the pandemic

Dr. Patrick Lacroix

(Courtesy of UMFK)

(Courtesy of UMFK)

Acadian Archives/Acadian Archives at the University of Maine at Fort Kent will host a community forum on the impact of the pandemic and international travel restrictions on the St. John on Saturday, December 3, from 9 to 11:30 a.m. in Nadeau Hall. conference room.

FORT KENT, Maine – Acadian Archives/Acadian Archives at the University of Maine at Fort Kent will host a community forum on the impact of the pandemic and international travel restrictions on the St. John on Saturday, December 3, from 9 to 11:30 a.m. in Nadeau Hall. conference room.

The event is free and open to the public.

The event arose out of the oral interviews conducted by Arhivele Acadiene/Arhivele acadienes during the past summer. The project, titled “Borderland Voices: The Social Impact of International Travel Restrictions in Northern Maine,” captured local residents’ challenging experience with international travel in 2020-22. The testimonies are now being transcribed and will form a new permanent collection at the Archives.

During the community forum, Acadian Archives staff will share their findings. You’ll also hear from Lisa Lavoie, Ph.D. candidate at the University of the Cumberlands and UMFK assistant professor of behavioral sciences, who wrote her master’s thesis on border communities, and Amber Rankine, executive director of the Greater Fort Kent Area Chamber of Commerce. The forum will provide the public with an opportunity to share their experience of border restrictions, family hardships, economic impacts, challenges at ports of entry and testing requirements.

“We collected oral testimonies about the pandemic and its aftermath while they were fresh in people’s minds,” says Dr. Patrick Lacroix, director of the Acadian Archives. “This event will help us think about our region’s past, present and future relationships with the international border.”

Refreshments will be provided.

This event is generously supported by the Maine Humanities Council.

For more information, please contact Dr. Lacroix at 207-834-7535.

The Acadian Archives/Archives acadiennes is the primary center for the study of Acadian history in New England and serves as one of several cultural centers in the St. John.