Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco City inside of which the French Quarter is located near Chinatown
California is not yet a member of the Francophone and Francophile Cities Network of America. Nevertheless, a city like San Francisco would benefit from showing its French past which was very bright in the second half of the 19th century. But this past is widely forgotten.
At that time, San Francisco developed while benefiting from the dynamism of the French immigrants from the Béarn (South West region of France in the Pyrénées), who contributed a great deal into the economy. The Ligue Henri IV is a fraternal organization based in San Francisco which was founded by French immigrants from the Béarn in 1895. Today this organization (850 members) is the largest Francophone association in Northern California.
It is now essential that Francophones and Francophiles of San Francisco join forces to restore the French past of the City. Let me tell you why…