Extent: 2 legal-sized document boxes
Linear feet: 1 linear foot
Language: French and English. The bulk of this collection is in French.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition: Created by Dorilla Brulé
Ownership and Literary Rights: The Dorilla Brulé Collection is the physical property of the French Institute, Assumption University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns.
Cite As: Dorilla Brulé Collection, French Institute, Assumption University
Restrictions on Access: The collection is available to researchers and other interested parties. Permission for use or reproduction can be obtained from the director of the French Institute, and is subject to the Institute’s user policies.
Scope & Content: This collection documents the adolescent and adult life of Dorilla Brulé and lives of her immediate family – most notably her brothers Rodolphe and Armand. The collection commences with Dorilla’s years studying in Montréal (c. 1926-1929), during which time she corresponded with her parents in Central Falls, Rhode Island, as well as her brothers Rodolphe and Armand, who were also in school in Québec. The collection has a large gap, including nothing from the 1930s through 1951. Picking back up in 1952, the ensuing twenty-three years of correspondence are mainly from Dorilla to her brothers, both Brothers of the Sacred Heart, respectively stationed in Québec and Africa(Lesotho and Zambia). Her correspondence and collected ephemera updated her brothers about her work as a teacher, their extended family, and the larger Franco-American community in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Additionally, there is select correspondence from Rodolphe to Dorilla, as well as from various relations and friends.
Since Dorilla’s brothers were stationed internationally, the care of her parents, uncle Abundius Brulé, and other extended family members, landed on her shoulders. Some of the correspondence in the collection is intensely personal as it describes the effects of strokes and other health issues, and her efforts to sell family property after their deaths.
While the ephemera are mostly in English, the letters are in French, with English phrases scattered throughout. The early letters are hand-written, while the later correspondence is mainly typed with handwritten additions and postscripts.
Biographical Note: See Finding Aid
Series Outline: The records of the Dorilla Brulé Collection are organized into two series:
Series 1: General Records
Series 2: Correspondence
Full Finding Aid:
Appointments recommended.
The French Institute follows the academic calendar of Assumption University. Exceptions to our regular hours may be found here.
__________
---
__________
Kate Bradley
Librarian/Archivist of the French Institute
508-767-7495
For reasons of preservation, French Institute collection materials do not circulate; however, non-rare materials are allowed to circulate through the d’Alzon Library or inter-library loan with the director’s permission.
It should be noted that the Institute’s collection includes a number of Franco-American newspapers from the New England region. Most consist of bound copies and nearly all have been microfilmed. To preserve the bound volumes, the Institute encourages scholars to consult the microfilm copies whenever they are available, for example, at the American Antiquarian Society or the Boston Public Library.
Librarian Login