page_title: History of the French in Holyoke
section_title: Alsatians and Lorrainians
hierarchical_section_title: History of the French in Holyoke / Institutions / Alsatians and Lorrainians
caption_attribution_description: English: The former offices of the Alsace-Lorraine Union of America in the South Holyoke neighborhood of Holyoke, Massachusetts, also identified as L'Union Alsace-Lorraine or the Alsace-Lorraine Society; founded in 1891, it removed to this clubhouse designed by George P. B. Alderman in 1903, the building was reported to have ash panelling- a card room, pool parlor, commercial grills and a buffet; by 1935 the building became home to the Liberty Quoit Club, quoits being a sport in vogue at that time. Little is known about the nature of the original Alsace-Lorraine Union other than that its directors had Franco-German last names found in that region of France/the German Empire.
context_page_description: During the late 19th and early 20th centuries Holyoke saw an influx of Franco-Americans, predominantly French-Canadians, who immigrated to Massachusetts to work in the city's growing textile and paper mills. By 1900, 1 in 3 people in Holyoke were of French-Canadian descent, and a 1913 survey of French Americans in the United States found Holyoke, along with other Massachusetts cities, to have a larger community of French or French-Canadian born residents than those of New Orleans or Chicago at that time. Initially faced with discrimination for the use of their labor by mill owners to undermine unionization, as well as for their creation of separate French institutions as part of the La Survivance movement, this demographic quickly gained representation in the city's development and civic institutions.
context_section_description: Although Holyoke's French history is identified with a Québécois diaspora, throughout the city's history it has had a considerable number of individuals identified as French but not as French Canadian. Among these was a sizable population of Germanic peoples as well from the border regions with Germany, namely a number of Alsatians (fr) and Lorrainians (also called "Lotharingians") from the contested territory of Alsace-Lorraine which remained a point of contention between the French and the German Empire, and later Nazi Germany, from the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 until the end of World War II. Today the territory is identified with the French region Grand Est.
  While their exact numbers remain unknown, many Holyoke residents were from families who emigrated from Alsace-Lorraine, including one of the city's best-known builders Casper Ranger, whose family arrived in the 1850s. The group, of which many spoke the French language, however did not always see agreement with their French-Canadian counterparts, one of the few records of their interactions being a fight that occurred during the Alsatians' celebration of a Prussian victory during the Franco-Prussian War. By the turn of the nineteenth century the community had grown considerably and by 1891 the Alsace-Lorraine Society was formed, formally incorporating six years later on March 26, 1897 as the "Alsace-Lorraine Union of America". The Union was an apolitical benefit society, providing sick and death benefits to its membership as well as hosting cultural events.
  The club began in 1891, hosting a "masquerade and fancy dress ball" to raise money for their sick/death fund, this event would continue annually for at least two decades. In 1903 the group would move to its own clubhouse, designed by George P. B. Alderman, located at the acute corner of what is now Carlos Vega Park on modern day Clemente Street (then known as "Park Street"). The opening of their new hall would be marked by a concert given by the Holyoke Turner Hall and Springdale Turner singers, indicating the Germanic culture of the club. The membership of the board however would be identified with names from the region both German and French in origin, such as Boistelle, Jacquel, Hegy, and Mittler. By the time the Union had reached its 25th anniversary in 1916, it comprised 150 members. It remains unknown what language their business meetings were conducted in, given the interlingual Germanic-Franco nature of the Alsatian dialect. Following a period of decline, by 1936 the club building was relinquished to a local bank, and by the 1970s the former clubhouse was home to a quoits club before being demolished in the 1980s.
caption: The former lodge of the Alsace-Lorraine Union of America as it appeared in 1978
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