MANCHESTER — A cultural institution that helps New Hampshire keep in touch with its French-Canadian and Acadian roots is beginning a fundraising drive to pay for needed repairs to its headquarters.

The American-Canadian Genealogical Society has been based in the former Blessed Sacrament School on Elm Street in Manchester for the past 15 years.

The building is home to church and civic records from most of Quebec province, an exhaustive collection of marriage, baptismal and burial records from New Hampshire, as well as records from Maine, Massachusetts, New York and other states.

“We're probably one of the best resources in New England, if not the United States, on French-Canadian research,” said Gerard Savard, society president.

After spending its early years in assorted Manchester basements – including the cellar of St. Mary Church – the society moved to the former school building.

Now, the exterior of the structure has begun to show the effects of New England weather.

“The outside has deteriorated,” Savard said. “Basically, a lot of bricks have cracked, the mortar has worn away and the window sills, made of limestone, have deteriorated. It becomes a big issue if we don't take care of it.”

Work has started on some of the more urgent repairs. Fundraising appeals will be made to businesses and individuals.

Many of the society's 1,700 members have made contributions through its “tree of life,” in which donations are recognized through leaves engraved with names of French-Canadian, Franco-American and Acadian ancestors. Donation levels are indicated by placement and color.

Over the years, the headquarters has become a stopping point for people doing research about French-Canadian history, even with the growth of online genealogical resources.

“Instead of trying to compete, we actually complement them in that we have Internet access,” Savard said.

The books and computer databases of parish, government and family records kept by the society are a far cry from the original collection of information, gathered at kitchen tables in the homes of French-Canadians.

“It was a small group of people that basically went to somebody's house and started a collection,” Savard said.

Robert Lawrence and Lucille Lagasse, who today are honorary presidents of the society, started the work 39 years ago to make the organization permanent and provide a repository for the collections of its members.

The group continues to be staffed by volunteers, who maintain the library and databases, publish a quarterly journal, maintain the acgs.com website and have produced more than 140 repertories – or compilations – of parish records.

For a fee, the society's research department traces a surname, with many searches tracing a family line to France.

Before it moved into its current building, the society commissioned work to make it suitable as a research library.

“Basically, when we bought the building it was bank-owned and there were six inches of water in the cellar,” Savard said. “We came in and did some major work. Now it needs some repairs.”

billsmith@unionleader.com