Language of Publication: French and English
LC Location: N&CPR
LC Has: Paper: Aug 3, Sep 12, 1940; Apr 14-19, 23-26, 28-29, May 1-3, 5-10, 12-17, 19-29, 31, 1941; Jun 2-26, Jun 28, 1941-Feb 11, 1942; Feb 16, 1942-Aug 18, 1943; Aug 30-Sep 4, Sep 7-Nov 10, 12-20, 22-24, 26, 1943; Dec 29, 1945.
Notes: Le Messager was founded by a young Canadian doctor named Louis J. Martel in 1880. At the time of its founding it was the second French-language newspaper to be published in Maine, the first being L'Émigré canadien which lasted for six issues in 1870. Le Messager claimed itself to be politically neutral, but in fact it was highly anti-Republican, which was politically aligned with many Canadian émigrés. Martel founded the paper with the intention of providing a strong religious foundation for the French-Canadian population in Maine, which is evidenced in the paper's motto, "Religion et Nationalité." The paper was founded at the end of long debates among Canadians about repatriation. Suffering attacks from Anglophone Americans as well as Canadians, the French-Canadian émigré population was not welcomed from either side. As the years passed and public opinion gradually settled in favor of naturalization, Le Messager consistently defended the viewpoint of French-Canadians trying to put down roots in the United States. Le Messager was revered among Franco-American journalists because it lasted through the Great Depression while almost all other French-language newspapers folded. By the time it ended in 1968, it was the French-language newspaper in America that had had the longest run.