At the beginning of the 20th^. century, governments paid little attention to the well-being of the population. There was no health insurance, workmen’s compensation, employment insurance, or social assistance. Solidarity was a matter of family, neighbours, and fellow parishioners helping each other by means of personal sacrifice, exchanges of services, collections, and chores.

However, these traditional forms of help were becoming less and less successful in reaching Acadians. Many Acadians had already migrated to cities, often those located in New England, to take up industrial jobs far from their original rural communities. That’s why, in the summer of 1902, during an Acadian patriotic convention held in Massachusetts, physician Lucien Belliveau proposed the formation of an Acadian fraternal association.

The following year, the Société l’Assomption de bienveillance et de secours mutuels was founded in Waltham, Massachusetts. Its mandate? “To unite all Acadians under the same flag; to assist its sick members; to provide financial assistance to the legal heirs of deceased members; to preserve our language, our customs and our religion.” These initial objectives were soon joined by support for schoolchildren and students. By 1913, the year its head office moved to Moncton, New Brunswick, the Society already had 115 chapters in the United States and Canada, with a combined 7,520 members.

Acadians were quick to set up their own fraternal association, not only because the model had proved successful with other ethnic groups in the United States and Canada, but also because leaders of community organizations wanted to discourage them from joining these “foreign” organizations. As early as 1864, French-Canadian workers in Ottawa had adopted the same strategy, founding the Union Saint-Joseph.

These societies were not exactly “insurance companies” as we know them today given they had a patriotic and religious mission. That’s why the applicant had to declare solemnly that he or she belonged to the cultural group when applying for membership.

As evidenced by the “minute book” of one of the Assumption chapters, decisions regarding the admission of members and the provision of assistance were made on a case-by-case basis at meetings of local branch leaders. Assumption gradually became a modern insurance company, and is still in business today.