Le Congrès de la Culture Française en Floride
The Mission of CCFF
The Congrès of French Culture in Florida was established in order to attract the interest of students from Florida for language, literature and French civilization. During Congrès, held in the spring of each year, participants take part in various competitions such as dictation, reading, play, skit, puzzles, spelling bee and French civilization. The students have the opportunity to demonstrate their talents and also to meet other enthusiastic Francophiles who inspire one another.
The History of CCFF
In the fall of 1952, three French teachers from Jacksonville, Ms. Lelia Alexander Landon High, Miss Cornelia Burge Fletcher High and Doris McCleary Andrew Jackson High, decided to organize a meeting for French students in the state of Florida. For this, they appealed to Florida universities.
Baroness von Boecop and Hugh McKean, President of Rollins College, were the only answer and it was thanks to them that the first Congress was held in the month of April 1953 in the Provençal House of Rollins College. Only seven students participated in this first Congress. They chose as provisional president Connie Stewart of Landon High. They wrote and adopted a constitution and chose the following name for their organization: Le Congrès de la Culture Française en Floride. The following eight years, Congrès thus took place in the Provençal House. However in 1962, Suzanne Carrell invited Congrès to be held in Jacksonville University where it was held for several consecutive years before moving each year. It finally met in a place other than a university to accommodate the purpose and activities of the Congress and its growing number of participants.
The result of the beneficent providence of this small group of teachers in 1952 is today a hundred high schools and about 1,500 individuals participating in the Congress of French Culture in Florida.
In 1980 a grant of five hundred dollars was established in honor of Suzanne Carrell. This scholarship is awarded annually to a Congrès participant who intends to continue studying French at university level. A similar award is granted by AATF-Florida. Three years ago, scholarships from AATF-FL and Congrès were increased to $ 750, and a purse of five hundred dollars for a junior was added by Congrès and AATF-FL. In addition, for several years, the French government offers summer holidays in France to several of our lucky winners. In recent years also, Florida State University has offered the Winthrop King scholarship of $ 500 to a senior participating in the Impromptu Speech (Discours/Causerie) competition. By all accounts, the Congrès of French Culture in Florida is a unique and challenging phenomenon whose effects do little to dissipate as the days and weeks follow it. The friendships that are formed here, the ideas that are forged and especially the interests of students and teachers to share the French language and Francophone culture make it an extraordinary success. The proof is that we are celebrating our sixty-third birthday.