FORT KENT — The Acadian Archives acadiennes of the University of Maine at Fort Kent will host a presentation on St. John Valley architecture by Don Cyr on Thursday, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m. in the Nadeau Hall teleconference room. The presentation is free and open to the public.
Don will present on the evolution of the Madawaska Settlement pioneer house from shelter to elite status, as well as how it was adapted to the lives of its inhabitants as their circumstances changed.
The lecture will center on images of homes from the Valley, most of which have since been destroyed.
He is the president of the Musée culturel du Mont-Carmel and an adjunct instructor in history and art at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, as well as an art instructor at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics.
Cyr has taught Acadian history and culture courses at UMPI for 35 years.
He has completed all of his course work for a Ph.D. in history and has photographed the structure of pioneer homes in the Saint John Valley for 40 years.
His Ph.D. work is in the fields of material culture, U.S. history, Canadian studies, and anthropology.
