Le Courrier du Maine was a French-language biweekly newspaper published in Lewiston, Maine, from July 24 to December 13, 1906. This short-run publication is the second oldest French-language newspaper in Lewiston, and just one of 16 published there between 1880 and 1984. The "Twin Cities" of Lewiston and Auburn, situated along Maine’s Androscoggin River, attracted many French-Canadian migrants in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with job opportunities in the flourishing textile and shoe industries. Newspapers like Le Courrier du Maine sought readership among local francophones, particularly those in the professional class (doctors, lawyers, clergy, and others) –that catered to a predominantly working-class Francophone community.
The publisher of Le Courrier du Maine was Henry F. Roy. Born in Danville, Québec in 1867, Roy was trained as a musician and later became musical director and organist at Lewiston’s St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Parish. Roy was hired by the church’s French Dominican priests to administer a newspaper that would present them in a favorable light, reportedly in response to their depiction in Lewiston’s popular French-language newspaper, Le Messager, which was incensed by the Dominicans' choice to demolish St. Peter’s Church, accusing them of greed, favoritism of Irish over French-Canadian clergy, and a desire to anglicize Franco-American parishioners. According to Roy’s own account, the Dominican Fathers supplied him with space and some financial support for Le Courrier to be published. At its outset, the paper was printed at the Haswell Press, which was an Irish print shop, though Roy eventually purchased his own presses and encumbered much of the cost of publishing himself. Shortly after Le Courrier‘s launch, Dominican provincial leadership expressed their disagreement with the newspaper’s intent, that "[certain] Fathers had not done well to encourage the founding of a newspaper in a time of dissension between priests and parishioners" [translated from the French]. Roy was then seemingly isolated, and the newspaper was suspended after only five months.
There are only two known issues of Le Courrier du Maine: July 24 (the first issue) and October 16, 1906. The paper was a small, four-page sheet of six columns that cost $0.01 per issue, $0.25 for a three-month subscription, $0.50 for six months, or $1.00 for twelve months. The masthead tagline of the paper was, "Foi, Union, Justice." The front page editorial of the paper’s very first issue describes the publication’s unique commitment to the Catholic faith; a nonpartisan, anti-polemical unity of all "French-Canadians grouped under the starred flag of free America;" and a sense of justice rooted in reason and respect, as opposed to intimidation and "unuseful revolt." In its final issue, Le Courrier du Maine acknowledged the success of what it claimed to be its original mission: "Le Courrier du Maine appears today for the last time. Everyone knows why this newspaper was founded and the good it has accomplished. No need to give details. It will suffice to compare the deplorable state in which our parish was with the spirit of agreement and union which reigns today. We have restored peace. Our mission being accomplished, we withdraw with proud and glorious brows from our work" [translated from the French].
Henry Roy was very active within Lewiston’s Franco-American community. In addition to serving as St. Peter’s musical director, in 1888 he founded Le Club Musical-Litteraire, an arts organization. After Le Courrier du Maine, Roy published the Sunday weekly newspaper, Le Petit Journal. In 1915, he published the English-language volume, Franco-Americans of the State of Maine U.S.A and Their Achievements, by J. Lawton, which notably excluded Roy himself. In 1925, he authored an account of the history of Le Courrier du Maine in a volume entitled, Echos d’Une Demission: Le Dernier Mot, under his own imprint, Echo Publishing Company. Echo operated successfully for decades. From 1925 to 1927, Roy represented Lewiston in the Maine legislature.
