The American-French Genealogical Society, formed in February of 1978, is a 501c3 non-profit organization devoted to people of French Canadian descent. Our mission is to study and preserve our rich heritage by assisting members in discovering their ancestors and the daily events that shaped their lives.
Canadian immigration into the United States began as early as the seventeenth century, but between 1871 and 1901 the greatest influx of immigrants entered this country. Taxation, debts, unemployment, and a failing economic environment contributed to over 2 million French Canadians, with shattered dreams, migrating to the U.S. seeking economic refuge. This was a major loss to Canada, whose population at the time ranged from 3.7 million to 4.8 million.
Since then, more than 10 million of their descendants have assimilated into American society. The language and culture preserved by the over-whelming number of Franco-Americans is disappearing, however, due to sociological changes.