The Institute was founded by Father Wilfrid J. Dufault, A.A., the late chancellor emeritus of Assumption, and Dr. Claire Quintal, founding director emerita, to preserve the French heritage of Assumption and of the New England region. The Institute is both an academic research facility and a center for French cultural activities. Although its main goals are to foster the preservation and study of the records of the history and cultural traditions of French ethnicity on this continent, the name "French Institute" ("Institut français") was chosen to encompass the entire Francophone world. The Institute is the leading place to study material relating to the more than 1.5 million French Canadians who immigrated to New England in the 19th and 20th centuries.