Franco American Programs

While scholars have analyzed the phenomenal growth of the credit union movement in the United States, they have devoted little attention to the Québec origins of credit unions and, in particular, no one has examined in any comprehensive way Alphonse Desjardins’s fundamental role in assisting Franco-American and other groups in developing their credit institutions in the United States. This presentation will explore the significant role of Desjardins in launching the hugely successful credit union movement in the United States. It will explain the background to the Québec caisse populairemovement, and it will then explore how Desjardins brought the cooperative credit movement to the United States by helping French-Canadian parishes in New Hampshire and Massachusetts to found credit unions of their own. It will also consider the efforts of Desjardins and of other promoters to expand the credit union movement to other states in the country.