Mallet Collection
Mallet Digital Exhibit

The Mallet Collection is a unique and fascinating collection of 18th, 19th, and early 20th century works on French Canadians, Franco-Americans, and Native Americans**. These materials comprised the personal library of Major Edmond Mallet (1842-1907), a Franco-American Civil War veteran from Oswego, N.Y., who served as Inspector General for Indian Affairs under President Grover Cleveland.

This collection of 6,000 items incorporates materials relating to the French exploration and settlement of the New World, as well as rare documents relating to Native Americans. The dichotomous nature of the collection reflects the two primary interests of Major Mallet: his French Canadian heritage and the integration of New World settlers with existing Native American settlements.

L’Union Saint-Jean-Baptiste d’Amérique, a society dedicated to Franco-Americans and French-Canadian ancestry, acquired the collection in 1913, six years after Major Mallet’s death. In March 2004, the U.S.J.B., now part of Catholic Family Life Insurance, transferred the collection to the Emmanuel d’Alzon Library at Assumption College, where it now resides on permanent loan.

**Here, the term "French Canadians" refers to people of French descent, living in Canada. "Franco-Americans" refers to people of French or French-Canadian descent, living in the United States. "Native Americans" refers to indigenous peoples of North America.