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Alliance At 85
  
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By CYNTHIA LESCALLEET
It’s a myth.
You don’t have to speak French to pass through the red door of Alliance Francaise de Houston, housed in an understated historic mansion at 427 Lovett Blvd. in Montrose. But you might want to give your old high school French a try anyway.
With a few icons of that country displayed in the entry’s salon and the giant screen playing French television shows or cartoons, it will be clear you’ve entered a crosscultural haven in the city.
Some who come to the Alliance do so because they just like French art or wine or films. Many come for a better understanding of the culture and its people. (They like the mingling with native speakers.)
And then there are the classes themselves, run in seven-week series at various levels and ages. About 300 students attend. (Classes resumed Sept. 23.)
Children get a lively interactive program that concludes in their writing and performing a play. The adults, whose classes tend to be in the evening hours, might involve some French “refreshments” to ease the flow of conversation.
These are some of the many roles French Alliance fills in Houston, said Joan E. Patrick. The former French professor is the executive director. She used to volunteer there. Now she runs it.
As Houston has become a more international city, its French Alliance has continued to evolve, she said. Even as Spanish has become a dominant foreign language here, Alliance membership and participation have tripled during her 15-year tenure.
Patrick attributes that trend to the growth of international business here. French companies in banking and energy have Houston operations, for example. And more U.S. companies have operations in French-speaking Africa, which also are helping drive interest in Alliance programs since employees seek stronger language skills and cultural affinity.
Also fueling support are students doing research in such subjects as music and philosophy who seek works in their original language, she said.
And then there are those individuals who travel and want another language to more fully embrace what they encounter.
As the shiny brass plaque on the red door states, the Alliance Française de Houston dates back to 1923. The organization celebrates its 85th anniversary 6-8 p.m. Oct. 9 (having been rescheduled due to Hurricane Ike) with a free public cultural showcase event called “La Fête de la Rentrée.”
Patrick summarized the organization’s 85-year history as an early social circle that added education and scholarship in the ‘50s and then expanded as the influx of French-speaking corporate transplants hit town in the ’60s and stayed.
More specifically, Houston Alliance founders included members of the Schlumberger family, Mrs. Edgar Odell Lovett (the wife of the first Rice University president), and several French expatriates with the mission of creating a center of French language and culture in Houston.
In the 1950s, the Alliance began to offer French language classes, and in 1959, the E.G Léonardon Scholarship program (now the Léonardon/Magne Scholarship) was founded. To date, it has sent more than 250 university students to study in France. Several past recipients of this scholarship are now AF board members, Patrick said.
Founded in Paris in 1883, the French Alliance organization has about 1,000 chapters in 130 countries. The U.S. has 100 chapters, each an independent nonprofit organization. The Délégation Générale in Washington, D.C. is the U.S. chapters’ headquarters and helps coordinate educational and cultural programs.
Patrick said executive directors of other Alliance chapters have commented informally on the shifts in their operations caused by the growth of Spanish culture in their cities. Sources at the Delegation Generale did not return calls for comment.
And that red door? Patrick said it was an arbitrary color choice when it came time to freshen up the paint job. It’s previous color was French Blue. Even that has evolved.
La Fête de la Rentrée
WHEN: 6-8 p.m. Oct. 9
WHERE: Alliance Francaise de Houston, 427 Lovett Blvd.
CONTACT: 713-526-1121, www.adfehouston.org
Marking its 85th anniversary, this free, public evening will include a buffet of very French appetizers by Chef Emmanuel Henry of Dinner is Possible, French wines and music, and an art exhibition by Mary Claire Herman.
You don’t have to speak French to pass through the red door of Alliance Francaise de Houston, housed in an understated historic mansion at 427 Lovett Blvd. in Montrose. But you might want to give your old high school French a try anyway.
With a few icons of that country displayed in the entry’s salon and the giant screen playing French television shows or cartoons, it will be clear you’ve entered a crosscultural haven in the city.
Some who come to the Alliance do so because they just like French art or wine or films. Many come for a better understanding of the culture and its people. (They like the mingling with native speakers.)
And then there are the classes themselves, run in seven-week series at various levels and ages. About 300 students attend. (Classes resumed Sept. 23.)
Children get a lively interactive program that concludes in their writing and performing a play. The adults, whose classes tend to be in the evening hours, might involve some French “refreshments” to ease the flow of conversation.
These are some of the many roles French Alliance fills in Houston, said Joan E. Patrick. The former French professor is the executive director. She used to volunteer there. Now she runs it.
As Houston has become a more international city, its French Alliance has continued to evolve, she said. Even as Spanish has become a dominant foreign language here, Alliance membership and participation have tripled during her 15-year tenure.
Patrick attributes that trend to the growth of international business here. French companies in banking and energy have Houston operations, for example. And more U.S. companies have operations in French-speaking Africa, which also are helping drive interest in Alliance programs since employees seek stronger language skills and cultural affinity.
Also fueling support are students doing research in such subjects as music and philosophy who seek works in their original language, she said.
And then there are those individuals who travel and want another language to more fully embrace what they encounter.
As the shiny brass plaque on the red door states, the Alliance Française de Houston dates back to 1923. The organization celebrates its 85th anniversary 6-8 p.m. Oct. 9 (having been rescheduled due to Hurricane Ike) with a free public cultural showcase event called “La Fête de la Rentrée.”
Patrick summarized the organization’s 85-year history as an early social circle that added education and scholarship in the ‘50s and then expanded as the influx of French-speaking corporate transplants hit town in the ’60s and stayed.
More specifically, Houston Alliance founders included members of the Schlumberger family, Mrs. Edgar Odell Lovett (the wife of the first Rice University president), and several French expatriates with the mission of creating a center of French language and culture in Houston.
In the 1950s, the Alliance began to offer French language classes, and in 1959, the E.G Léonardon Scholarship program (now the Léonardon/Magne Scholarship) was founded. To date, it has sent more than 250 university students to study in France. Several past recipients of this scholarship are now AF board members, Patrick said.
Founded in Paris in 1883, the French Alliance organization has about 1,000 chapters in 130 countries. The U.S. has 100 chapters, each an independent nonprofit organization. The Délégation Générale in Washington, D.C. is the U.S. chapters’ headquarters and helps coordinate educational and cultural programs.
Patrick said executive directors of other Alliance chapters have commented informally on the shifts in their operations caused by the growth of Spanish culture in their cities. Sources at the Delegation Generale did not return calls for comment.
And that red door? Patrick said it was an arbitrary color choice when it came time to freshen up the paint job. It’s previous color was French Blue. Even that has evolved.
La Fête de la Rentrée
WHEN: 6-8 p.m. Oct. 9
WHERE: Alliance Francaise de Houston, 427 Lovett Blvd.
CONTACT: 713-526-1121, www.adfehouston.org
Marking its 85th anniversary, this free, public evening will include a buffet of very French appetizers by Chef Emmanuel Henry of Dinner is Possible, French wines and music, and an art exhibition by Mary Claire Herman.
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