Looking Back : Monumental

by Valérie Rhême
translated by Andrée McNamara Tait

The Monument-National, currently owned by the NTS, has been a major creative center which has presented mythical figures from here and abroad such as Édith Piaf, Charles Trenet, Gratien Gélinas, and Molly Picon. While many are familiar with this aspect of the Monument, some may be surprised to discover, while visiting the exhibition Monument-National: A Site of Great Undertakings, inaugurated last February, that it has also been a popular university, the home of major social and political movements, and the rallying point for many minorities.

“The Monument-National played an important role for Quebec and Montréal,” says historian Jean-Marc Larrue, the mastermind behind the exhibition. “It became monumental but not, however, because of its original vocation. It is the many unexpected events that have made its journey so remarkable.”

Multicultural Destiny

When the building was inaugurated, the Association Saint-Jean Baptiste (today known as the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste — SSJB) wanted to give francophones, who had been a majority in Montréal since 1861, an important community and cultural centre. At the time, the city had a dozen monuments to the glory of British heroes and nothing to commemorate the courage of the founders of New-France.

Its geographical location, however, placed it at the historical junction of the French (east of St. Laurent Boulevard) and English (in the west) sections of the city. Before long, thanks to the influx of immigrants arriving in Montréal, the Monument found itself at the heart of the Jewish and Chinese districts. Not only did these two communities pass through its doors, but also the Irish, the city’s large anglophone bourgeoisie, and people from various other minorities. Everyone mixed with the francophones who frequented the building. The Monument-National stood out as a major multi-ethnic community and cultural gathering place.

“This cohabitation was probably unique in the world,” adds Jean-Marc Larrue. “It demonstrates the ambivalence of the French-Canadians of the time who were nationalists and had a certain apprehension towards anything foreign, all the while demonstrating openness and Christian charity. Jews, who were destitute, arrived here by the thousands and stayed within their community (in order to protect their culture). Francophones also felt threatened at the time. In this same way (and for the same reasons), they helped the Chinese, the Italians…

The diversity of Jewish activities held at the Monument reveal how important it was for that community: aside from New York, it was the biggest centre for Yiddish theatre in America and remained so until the end of the 1940s. Religious services marking the Jewish New Year were held within its walls from 1903 to the middle of the 1930s; the first Jewish Canadian Congress took place there in 1919, as well as a multitude of other important events for the community.

Political Movements

This natural cohabitation sometimes made for some strange bedfellows. At one point, in 1930, Adrien Arcand, the head of the Christian National Socialist Party (a French-Canadian, anti-Semite group) used the Monument as a platform to denounce Jewish imperialism and materialism; a few days later, the first prime minister of the State of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, was there, encouraging nationalist zeal amongst Jewish Montrealers.

It can also be said that, at the time, the Monument was the seat of all the political debates that marked Quebec until the beginning of the 1960s. From Honoré Mercier, who made his last speech in 1893, Wilfrid Laurier, Henri Bourassa, and Lionel Groulx to Pierre Bourgault in 1966, the voices of all of Quebec’s and Canada’s speakers rang out in the great hall.

... and Feminists

Even before the first stone was laid for the Monument-National, the “Dames de la Société” (Ladies of the Society) — later known as the “Dames patronesses” (Lady Patrons) then “Fédération Saint-Jean-Baptiste ”— played a major role in constructing the Monument. They worked diligently to raise the necessary funds because they viewed this project as an opportunity to improve the living conditions of French-Canadian women, by starting the first public courses open to women, for instance, and by demanding access to post-secondary education. Women such as Marie Gérin-Lajoie — the Fédération’s leader — and Idola Saint-Jean — an early militant and symbol of Quebec’s francophone “suffragettes”— also created support networks for women and fought to obtain the vote. For nearly 40 years, the Monument-National was considered the home of French-Canadian feminism.

Education and Workers’ Movements

When Jean-Marc Larrue is asked how the Monument could have been at the source of so many important movements, he simply replies: “The Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste oversaw the social issues that the government of the day did not take care of.” Popular education was at the heart of the preoccupations of the Société’s directors, who instituted the Monument’s “public courses,” technical courses for adults. They trained thousands of people over some 60 years. The subjects taught varied and evolved along with Quebec society: engineering, law, accounting, hygiene, physics, arts, history, and literature were on the bill. “The Monument acted as a popular university. You could say that the École Polytechnique, École des Hautes Études Commerciales, and the Conservatoire d’art dramatique all have their roots there,” explains Jean-Marc Larrue.

The same can be said for unionism and mutualism in Montréal. Through the actions of the SSJB, the Monument supported workers’ action by housing a multitude of associations for workers: travelling salesmen, factory workers, “shop ladies,” etc. Since banks refused to lend money to the less affluent, these workers created their own alternative banking services at around the same time that Alphonse Desjardins was founding his first “Caisse populaire” in Quebec City.

A Close Call

The Monument-National started to decline in the 1950s, as St. Laurent Boulevard became overrun by crime and prostitution. The Monument was spared from the demolition ball three times and was designated a “cultural property” in 1976. The School took ownership in 1978 and completely renovated the building from 1991 to 1993.

Since then, the Monument has continued to be a training institution and creative centre; the public performances of the NTS’s francophone and anglophone students are produced and presented there. This major performing-arts presenter also hosts professional artists of all disciplines and world-renowned events such as the International Jazz Festival and the Festival de théâtre des Amériques. “The old eclecticism remains. The Monument-National continues to be a place for creation, training, and presenting,” says Jean-Marc Larrue. “It’s the best thing that could happen to it!”

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