Back to SearchDieppe to Showcase Francophone Women with Heritage Tour and Place-Name Bank
DIEPPE, NB — The City of Dieppe, in collaboration with the Groupe de recherche sur les archives et les femmes de l’Université de Moncton (GRAFA), is proposing an urban project that will showcase the contribution of local women to the community. The Women Trailblazers Bank project, or Toponymi’elle in French, aims to provide a list of trail names that pay tribute to Dieppe women who have distinguished themselves or worked behind the scenes.
A first for New Brunswick, the project will introduce residents and visitors to the history of women in the city through an outdoor heritage route for tourists featuring trail names accompanied by interactive posters that tell the stories of local French-speaking women.
The initiative is also in line with the municipality’s active transportation plan adopted last year, which aims to promote active forms of transportation like walking and cycling, as well as healthy lifestyle habits among residents.
“Dieppe has experienced phenomenal growth over the past few decades, and we were looking to upgrade our name bank for future sites,” said Pauline Cormier, manager of heritage and partnerships at the City of Dieppe. “When we looked at the current place-name records in Dieppe, we noticed that women were predominantly represented through their relationships with men. They’re described as the daughter of, the wife of, the mother of, the mother-in-law of, and so on. This important project will enable us to promote the inclusion of women in our local heritage.”
“The use of place names that reflect local heritage is a form of linguistic planning that allows us to reflect on women’s roles and highlight the contributions of the francophone community to a given urban space,” said Isabelle LeBlanc, sociolinguist, professor in the Department of French Studies at the Université de Moncton, and GRAFA’s scientific director.
Consultations, focus groups and intergenerational meetings will be held with the public in the coming year to build up the name bank. To learn more about the Women Trailblazers Bank project, view the recording of the June 19 meeting of City Council at youtube.com/DieppeNB.