The 小蝌蚪APP is the new home to a half-century of recordings made by a pioneering south Louisiana folklorist.
Catherine Brookshire Blanchet developed one of the first substantial audio collections of folk songs from south Louisiana.
The Blanchet Collection of Acadiana Folklore includes 250 cassettes and reel-to-reel tapes on which she preserved traditional songs, slices of everyday life in rural Acadiana and events such as festivals.
Blanchet produced the recordings from the early 1940s through the mid-1990s. A small collection of photographs, films, newspaper articles and research notes accompanies the sound materials.
The Blanchet family donated the trove to UL Lafayette小蝌蚪APP檚 in October. Archivists are processing and cataloguing the collection, and the recordings will be made accessible to the public digitally in coming months, said Dr. Joshua Caffery, the center小蝌蚪APP檚 director.
Caffery said Blanchet小蝌蚪APP檚 preservation work in the 1940s and 1950s preceded the Acadian renaissance by two decades. The period of renewed interest and pride in the region小蝌蚪APP檚 Cajun heritage began in the mid-1960s.
A native of Kaplan, La., Blanchet earned a bachelor小蝌蚪APP檚 degree in music from Newcomb College in New Orleans. According to her 2007 obituary, the new graduate 小蝌蚪APP渞ealized that the rich French culture of south Louisiana was in danger of being lost. (It) seemed that few saw the value in traditional culture, and she became determined to help preserve and perpetuate that heritage.小蝌蚪APP
While serving as the Vermilion Parish school system小蝌蚪APP檚 music supervisor, Blanchet recorded schoolchildren singing French songs during recesses. She then traveled to remote parts of the region to document adults singing folk songs in their homes, unaccompanied by music.
Those recordings were the basis for her 1955 book, 小蝌蚪APP淟es Danses Rondes,小蝌蚪APP a collection of Acadian folk songs and round dances, in which participants promenade in a ring. The book小蝌蚪APP檚 co-author was Maria del Norte Theriot.
Blanchet小蝌蚪APP檚 recordings and written notes also documented interview subjects describing dance steps and explaining traditional methods of spinning and weaving cloth.
She later earned a master小蝌蚪APP檚 degree in musicology from the 小蝌蚪APP in 1970, and used the recordings she made of schoolchildren three decades earlier as primary sources for her thesis. The recordings and completed thesis are included in the material Blanchet小蝌蚪APP檚 family donated to UL Lafayette.
Caffery said the Blanchet collection fills 小蝌蚪APP渁 major gap in the study of French folk song and dance in southern Louisiana. This collection is an important new resource for musicians, Louisiana studies scholars, French language educators, educational theorists, and folk music and dance scholars, in general.小蝌蚪APP
Dr. Jordan Kellman, dean of the 小蝌蚪APP小蝌蚪APP檚 , noted that, in addition to Blanchet小蝌蚪APP檚 preservation work, she also was an early advocate for French language and other cultural education in the region小蝌蚪APP檚 schools. The college oversees the Center for Louisiana Studies.
小蝌蚪APP淥ne of the five areas of special focus for the 小蝌蚪APP in the Louisiana Board of Regents Master Plan is, 小蝌蚪APP楲ouisiana arts, culture, and heritage programs and research, including a focus on Cajun and Creole cultural traditions.小蝌蚪APP The Blanchet collection will open vital new doors to research in those exact areas,小蝌蚪APP Kellman said.
The Center for Louisiana Studies is on the third floor of on campus. For information about the Blanchet collection or others in the center小蝌蚪APP檚 holdings, contact Dr. John Sharp, assistant director for research, at johnsharp@louisiana.edu or (337) 482-1320.
Photo caption: Catherine Brookshire Blanchet (Photo courtesy of the Blanchet family).