Presently, I am quietly putting together many of the parts, called pages, in this website with the intent of publishing an e-book containing much of the material found in the text, here.
This should be a process of “cut and paste” where I insert all the existing parts (sections) in their correct order, within the framework shown below.
Discoveries and Lessons in a Ghetto Town
Lowell: Immigrant Town on Merrimack River had all the Answers
Guidelines – Words of Wisdom
Over the years, I have been fascinated by the words of wisdom that certain figures in human history, going back to the days of Ancient Greece, have bequeathed to us, fellow travelers. The catalog of these comments must range in the hundreds at this point. The selected few, below, are examples of these personal favorites.
“In a journey of one thousand miles, start with one step forward.” – Chinese Proverb
“Fall seven times, stand up eight.” – Japanese Proverb
“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” – Chinese Proverb
PREFACE– HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Technical Revolution
Scientific Revolution
CONTENTS
Section I – Pawtucketville – Endicott St – (1939-1944)
Section II – Centralville – Ludlam Street – Saint-Louis School – (1945-1949)
Section III – Centralville – Saint-Louis School and Dad’s Death (1950–1953)
Section IV –Centralville – Saint-Joseph High School (1954-1957)
Section V – Ludlam St – Lowell Tech – (1957–1961) – B.S. degree
Section VI – State College, PA, – Penn State (1961-1963) – M.S. degree in physics
BOOK SECTIONS
Section I – Pawtucketville – Endicott St – (1939-1944)
- Monsieur Poulain was our landlord, who raised chickens in the hen house located in the backyard of his property. He also had vegetable and flower gardens to beautify this property, which sat at the corner of White and Endicott Streets
- Mémère Bolduc, our dad’s mother, shared our tenement. We also had a large, male German Shepherd dog called Pal that warmly kept us safe for about one decade.
- France had capitulated to the Nazis in 1940. We felt personally involved since we believed that the French people were like our own family members.
- Memere Bolduc was very saddened by her son, xx, behavior and legal incarceration at a mental hospital. She was afraid of his dangerous actions at home when he previously shared an apartment with her on Fletcher Street in the Acre, near Pawtucket Street.
- She had been separated from her husband, Eugene, since the early 1930s. Why? He was often angry with life, it seems. However, she never, ever, discussed this issue with me over the many years when I enjoyed her company. She was like my adult companion. Here I learned that everyday people in our lives can carry some secret painful memories, which is quite sad.
- My father was working at Darcy Pies & my mother was giving beauty parlor hairstyles to the ladies at home.
- There was rationing on the home consumption of butter, meats, gasoline, rubber tires, etc.
- Family members such as aunts, uncles, and cousins visited us often. Aunt Florence and Uncle Gerry Charbonneau visited us almost daily.
- Monsieur and Madame Poulain were gracious owners. We appreciated their welcoming kindness, many times over the years.
- We liked our nice second-floor tenement at the corner of White and Endicott. For us, it was quiet and safe.
- Madame LaCouture from Belgium was our neighbor and the backyard is where I often played with my German Shepherd, male dog, Pal. Her son, Ronald, became my friend, but he was quite mischievous, and we got into trouble at times.
- My brother, Robert, AKA Bob, was born on March x 1943 before the Normandy Invasion. We greeted him with positive affirmation as a fine addition to our small family.
Section II – First, Barker St. in Centralville and later at 179 Ludlam Street to attend the Saint-Louis Bilingual School – (1945-1949)
- I started kindergarten in the fall of 1944. The war was still on, so we would often wonder when it would come to a stop.
- Our new neighborhood on Barker was much, much less attractive than the one we had before on Endicott.
- A bleak, empty field in our backyard overlooking Lakeview Avenue near West Sixth Street
- Jacqueline Deschesnes and I walked to school from my house on Barker, St. Naturally, we spoke in French, which was the “lingua franca” of the poor, under-educated people in the area. Adults, generally, understood English, but they used it only when it was necessary, like when shopping downtown at Kearney Square.
Section III – Centralville – Saint-Louis School and Dad’s Death (1950–1953)
Section IV –Centralville – Saint-Joseph High School (1954-1957)
Section V – Ludlam St – Lowell Tech – (1957–1961) – B.S. degree
Section VI – State College, PA, – Penn State (1961-1963) – M.S. degree
Temporary Halt – STOP
Dedication and Recognition
My mother, Claire, and father, Alexander, plus my brother, Bob, and two wonderful sisters, Michelle and Denise represent the best companions that a guy could have during those challenging days of World War Two, and the following meager years of Centralville’s Ludlam Street living quarters.
Together, and with the help of President Roosevelt’s family assistance program called Mother’s Aide we, somehow, managed to earn an honest living (at first with only two newsboy salaries and our mother’s beauty parlor proceeds) to eventually enjoy the Mother Hubert world of having, at least, the basics. My father, our primary breadwinner, had died in January 1953, so our family became a recipient of government assistance.
Naturally, we, as French Canadian immigrants, often prayed that, someday, the constant stress of living so close to poverty might eventually become nothing but a harsh learning experience, and that fine jobs and careers would become the norm.
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