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New Rochelle proclaims French American Heritage Month and spotlights centuries-old ties to La Rochelle
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Summary
New Rochelle officials marked French-American ties with a flag-raising ceremony, a proclamation naming July 2025 French American Heritage Month and a historical presentation tracing Huguenot settlement, community exchanges and wartime aid between New Rochelle and La Rochelle.
New Rochelle officials and community members gathered at City Hall to commemorate the city's long-standing relationship with La Rochelle, France, mark French American Heritage Month and review centuries of local history.
Veil Alexis, emcee and member of the Sister City Committee, opened the program and introduced Mayor Yadira Ramos Herbert and other speakers. Congressman George Latimer joined by phone and told the audience, "Bonjour, mes amis," saying he'll try to be helpful through his role on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
"We are going to proclaim the month of July 2025 as French American Heritage Month in the city of New Rochelle," Mayor Yadira Ramos Herbert told attendees and said the proclamation will be posted at City Hall. She described the recognitions as a way to "honor our history" and make the city's cultural programs available online.
City Manager Wilfredo Melendez thanked the Sister City Committee and city staff, and framed the event as recognition of the French influence on New Rochelle's civic life, referencing city symbols such as the Fleur-de-lis.
Historian and presenter Barbara Davis delivered the evening's main program, tracing New Rochelle's founding by Huguenot families who fled religious persecution in 17th-century France. Davis described the revocation of the Edict of Nantes as the pivotal event that left Huguenots vulnerable in France and prompted emigration. "The Edict of Nantes ... was revoked by King Louis," she said, adding that persecution and forced departures followed.
Davis reviewed key local milestones: the 1698 deed in which John and Rachel Pell conveyed land to French settlers (the deed and early maps were shown), the layout of early shoreline lots, surviving 17th- and 18th-century houses, and Huguenot-era burial grounds that were later moved during construction of I-95 and reinterred behind Trinity Church. She also highlighted several local figures linked to New Rochelle's history, including John Jay and Peter Faneuil; Davis noted Faneuil's wealth was tied in part to the transatlantic slave trade.
The presentation covered 20th-century civic links as well: New Rochelle's wartime fundraising and material aid to La Rochelle in both world wars, student exchanges, arts and music delegations and recurring mayoral visits. Davis recounted the Sister City Committee's formal establishment in 2007 with Peter Korn as its first chair and summarized cultural exchanges and festival participation through 2019 and into recent years.
Mayor Ramos Herbert also presented a separate recognition, asking the Sister City Committee to accept a proclamation designating July 15 as French American Heritage Recognition Day for display at City Hall. The committee accepted the recognitions and the event concluded with closing remarks and an invitation to future programs.
The event combined ceremonial proclamations with a substantive local-history presentation. Officials said the proclamations and a recording of the program will be preserved online and on the City Hall proclamation wall.
What happens next: the city will post the proclamations at City Hall; the Sister City Committee and city staff said they will continue to pursue cultural exchanges and historical interpretation projects that tie New Rochelle to La Rochelle.
