Iowa: Preserving French Heritage Today
Several organizations in Iowa are devoted to exploring Iowa’s French heritage and to helping people connect to French and French-Canadian culture today.
The Iowa Ancient Trails Project site at http://www.uiowacar.com/osaglotrails/ancient-trails-tours-home documents pre-settlement roads and trails, including the Chemin des voyageurs. This intertwined series of pathways ran across northern Iowa and was used for moving trade goods between the Mississippi and the Missouri river systems.
The Alliance Française of Central Iowa-Des Moines has as its mission to foster friendship between people of Central Iowa and the French-speaking world, working to develop knowledge of the French language and French and francophone cultures. Their website is at https://afcentraliowa.org/ .
The Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC)’s Iowa Culinary Institute sponsors a French chef exchange within its culinary arts program. Since 1986 they have hosted an annual exchange with Des Moines’ sister city, St. Etienne.
The American Association of Teachers of French, which brings together teachers of French at all levels from elementary school to graduate programs, has a chapter in Iowa. https://www.frenchteachers.org ; https://www.facebook.com/AATFrench.Iowa
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