The French Colonial Historical Society encourages interest in the scholarly study of all aspects of the history of French colonization, the overseas French territories, and the legacies of French empire. It provides its members with various channels, including newsletters, annual meetings, a website, and French Colonial History, a refereed journal published by Michigan State University Press.

The Society awards the Heggoy and Boucher Prizes annually for outstanding books on French colonial history, and it presents the Eccles Prize to the best paper by a graduate student delivered at the annual FCHS conference.