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The Filles de Jésus contributed greatly to the development of Trois-Rivières by participating in the education of thousands of young girls in the region and other areas at the Institut familial de Val-Marie and the Institut familial de Keranna between 1950 and 1972. Upon their creation in 1930, these family institutes, known as “regional domestic science schools,” grew at a remarkable pace thanks to the vision of Mgr Albert Tessier, chief visitor of the family institutes in the province of Quebec.
Once focussed mainly on practice (sewing, knitting, culinary arts), the program became diversified with the gradual addition of cultural and scientific content. This evolution provided the graduates with greater opportunities. Although the curriculum now included general culture and science courses, it also offered family education and occupational training, such as female spirituality, family training, methodology, culinary arts, sewing and household management. Homemaker internships available in orphanages and the Petit Foyer-a small apartment in the Institut-gave the girls an opportunity to take care of a baby and learn the tasks required to run a household.
Student life was also an important aspect of the girls’ everyday life. In the era of family institutes, students were required to reside at the schools as boarders. They participated in various extra-curricular activities with their colleagues and with the nuns. This environment led to a camaraderie that is still perceptible 40 years later.
The exhibit, Les écoles de bonheur, reflects the emotion and memories of the era, and takes a humanistic look at the themes related to the family institutes, in keeping with the values and the charisma of the Filles de Jésus.
