Bourdieu’s idea of social capital has to do with the acquiring and use of cultural sway to gain influence and power in a society. Commemorative street names are a way of constructing and expressing the past. In Acadiana there are many different streets named after people, but very few of the people who live here know much, if anything, about those people or their stories. As a public space, the names of streets are part of everyday life, but are often overlooked. Cultural symbols and popular…

The earliest cemetery can be traced back to almost 78,000 years ago when loved ones took the time to carefully bury and mark their dead. Most sites of this age however, are lost forever due to neglect, weather, vegetation, and many other factors. It is vital that cemeteries are documented due to historical significance of the ones buried there, their link to the community, and even genealogical reference. Their markers reveal many things to include religion, possible historic events, lifestyle,…

Using enormous wooden screws and muscle power, New Orleans Screwmen packed cotton bales tightly into ships, helping fuel the city's nineteenth-century prosperity. Their fascinating story reveals a world of labor, immigration, race, and cultural exchange. This ten-stop tour invites you to discover that history where it happened. Developed by historian Laura M. Hughes through her M.A. thesis research at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, the tour brings an overlooked past into the present.

When it comes to physical history, many times the old buildings are torn down to make room for new and modern ones or sites are redeveloped. The problem with this line of thought is that many old buildings or sites have a story to tell. These untold stories and places for various reasons end up lost to the community, such as for the cost for upkeep, the time it would take to process the land or building to save and ultimately peoples’ memories. “Lost and Forgotten Places of Acadiana” is a tour…

It is 1860, and Abraham Lincoln was Just elected, the first Republican to win the White House. The Southern States had threatened secession if the Republicans won, and by the time Lincoln was inaugurated on March 4, 1861, seven states had left the union. [1] South Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, and Texas formally declared that the threat to Slaveholders' rights was the cause of their departure, and Georgia cited unfair general Northern economic policy toward the southern states. Louisiana…