2003 Louisiana Writer Award Recipient

Carl BrasseauxCarl Brasseaux

Personal Information
Awards
Career
Writings
Source Citation

 

  • Louisiana Historian

  • Assistant Director of Center for Louisiana Studies

  • University Distinguished Professor of History, University of Southwestern Louisiana, 1995

Personal Information

Family: Born August 19, 1951, in Opelousas, LA; son of Ferdinand, Jr. (an electrical technician) and Odile Valjean (a homemaker; maiden name, Johnson) Brasseaux; married Glenda Marie Melancon (a teacher and administrator), July 21, 1973; children: Ryan Andre, David Marc, Aimee Elizabeth. Ethnicity: "Cajun."
Education: University of Southwestern Louisiana, B.A. (cum laude; political science), 1974, M.A. (history), 1975; post-graduate studies at Louisiana State University Law School, 1972, and Louisiana State University-Baton Rouge (history), 1976-78; University of Paris, doctorate (summa cum laude; North American studies), 1982.
Avocational Interests: Photography, computers. Memberships: French Colonial Historical Association, Southern Historical Association, Louisiana Historical Association.
Addresses: Office: Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, P.O. Box 40831, Lafayette, LA 70504-0831; 337-482-6028.

Awards

Kemper Williams Prize, 1979, for best manuscript on Louisiana history; Robert L. Brown Prize, 1980, for best article in Louisiana History; Presidents' Memorial Award, Louisiana Historical Association, 1986, for article "The Moral Climate of French Louisiana, 1699-1763" (published in Louisiana History, XXVII, 1986); book prize, French Colonial Historical Society, 1987; special lifetime achievement award, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1987, for contributions to the study of Louisiana genealogy; Golden Achievement Award, Breaux Bridge Historical Society, 1989; Chevalier, l'Ordre des Palmes Acad�miques, dipl�me, 1991, medal, 1994; National Daughters of the American Revolution Award, 1995; University Distinguished Professor of History, University of Southwestern Louisiana, 1995.

Career

University of Louisiana at Lafayette (formerly the University of Southwestern Louisiana), Lafayette, LA, assistant director of Center for Louisiana Studies, 1975--, curator of Center for Louisiana Studies colonial records collection, 1980--, manager of Center for Louisiana Studies' information systems, member of university's Board of Editors, 1975--, adjunct assistant professor, 1987-90, assistant professor of history, 1991-94, associate professor, 1994-98, professor of history, 1998--; writer. Photographer for various organizations, including Center for Louisiana Studies, 1975--; Southeastern Borderlands Association, secretary-treasurer, 1980-81; member of Board of Directors of Louisiana Francophone Studies Association, 1984-85, Attakapas Historical Association, 1984-92, and Louisiana Historical Association, 1987-90; Attakapas Historical Association, vice president, 1986-88, president, 1988-89; served on Southeastern Columbus Quincentenary Commission, 1987-92; Macmillan Publishing Company, freelance editor for Scribner's Reference Book Division, 1991-92; Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Music Festival, advisory board member, 1993--; John Muir Publications, freelance editor, 1994; Universit� Laval (Qu�bec, P.Q.), visiting professor, 1994; Louisiana Historical Association, fellow, 2000; consultant to various businesses, organizations, and institutions; speaker at professional gatherings and civic organizations; has been interviewed by television and radio programs associated with various organizations, including National Public Radio, Australian National Broadcasting, Polish National Television, Canadian Broadcasting Company, Radio France, Belgian National Radio, Cable News Network, and German National Public Radio.

Writings by the Author

  • (With Glenn R. Conrad and R. Warren Robison) The Courthouses of Louisiana, University of Southwestern Louisiana (Lafayette, LA), 1977, second edition, Center for Louisiana Studies (Lafayette, LA), 1998.

  • (Editor, translator, and annotator) A Comparative View of French Louisiana: The Journals of Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville and Jean-Jacques-Blaise d'Abbadie, University of Southwestern Louisiana (Lafayette, LA), 1979, second edition, 1980.

  • (Editor with Math� Allain) A Franco-American Overview: Louisiana, National Assessment and Dissemination Center for Bilingual/Bicultural Education (Cambridge, MA), Volume 5, 1981, Volume 6, 1981, Volume 7: The Postbellum Period, 1982, Volume 8: French Louisiana in the Twentieth Century, 1982.

  • (With Glenn R. Conrad) A Selected Bibliography of Scholarly Literature on Colonial Louisiana and New France, Center for Louisiana Studies (Lafayette, LA), 1982.

  • (Editor with Glenn R. Conrad; and annotator) Marc de Villiers du Terrage, The Last Years of French Louisiana, translated by Hosea Phillips, University of Southwestern Louisiana (Lafayette, LA), 1982.

  • (Compiler with Glenn R. Conrad) Gone but Not Forgotten: Records from South Louisiana Cemeteries, Volume 1: St. Peter's Cemetery, New Iberia, Louisiana, Center for Louisiana Studies (Lafayette, LA), 1983.

  • (Compiler and editor, with Glenn R. Conrad) Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association, Louisiana Historical Association (New Orleans, LA), Index to Volumes I to XXV, 1985, Index to Volumes XXVI to XXX, 1990, Index to Volumes XXXI to XXXV, 1996, Index to Volumes XXXVI to XL, 2000.

  • (With Michael James Foret) A Bibliography of Acadian History, Literature, and Genealogy, 1955-1985 (Occasional Papers Series, No. 1), Nicholls State University (Thibodaux, LA), 1986.

  • Denis-Nicolas Foucault and the New Orleans Rebellion of 1768 (McGinty Publications Series), Louisiana Tech University (Ruston, LA), 1987.

  • The Founding of New Acadia: Beginnings of Acadian Life in Louisiana, 1765-1803, Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA), 1987.

  • (Under pseudonym Antoine Bourque) Trois Saisons: Nouvelles, contes, et fables, Centre d'Etudes louisianaises, 1988.

  • (Editor; translator with Emelio Garcia and Jacqueline K. Voorhies; and annotator with Voorhies) Quest for the Promised Land: Official Correspondence regarding the First Acadian Migration to Louisiana, 1764-1769, Center for Louisiana Studies (Lafayette, LA), 1989.

  • In Search of Evangeline: Origins and Evolution of the Evangeline Myth, Portier-Gorman Publications (Thibodaux, LA), 1989.

  • Lafayette, Where Yesterday Meets Tomorrow: An Illustrated History, Windsor Publications (Chatsworth, CA), 1990.

  • The Foreign French: French Immigration into the Mississippi Valley, 1820-1900, Center for Louisiana Studies (Lafayette, LA), Volume 1: 1820-1839, 1990, Volume 2: 1840-1848, 1992, Volume 3: 1849-1852, 1993.

  • “Scattered to the Wind”: Dispersal and Wanderings of the Acadians, 1755-1809, Center for Louisiana Studies (Lafayette, LA), 1991.

  • (With Glenn R. Conrad) A Bibliography of Scholarly Literature on Colonial Louisiana and New France, Center for Louisiana Studies (Lafayette, LA), 1992.

  • (Editor and annotator, with Glenn R. Conrad) The Road to Louisiana: The Saint-Domingue Refugees, 1792-1809, Center for Louisiana Studies (Lafayette, LA), 1992.

  • Acadian to Cajun: Transformation of a People, 1803-1877, University Press of Mississippi (Jackson, MS), 1992.

  • (With Glenn R. Conrad) Crevasse: The 1927 Flood in Acadiana, Center for Louisiana Studies (Lafayette, LA), 1994.

  • (With Claude F. Oubre and Keith P. Fontenot) Creoles of Color in the Bayou Country, University Press of Mississippi (Jackson, MS), 1995.

  • A Refuge for All Ages: Immigration in Louisiana History (Volume X of The Louisiana Purchase Bicentennial Series in Louisiana History), Center for Louisiana Studies (Lafayette, LA), 1996.

  • (Editor, with James D. Wilson) Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, 1988-98, Louisiana Historical Association (New Orleans, LA), 1998.

  • France's Forgotten Legion: Service Records of French Military and Administrative Personnel Stationed in the Mississippi Valley, 1699-1769, Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA), 2000.

Also author of maps published by Attakapas Historical Association (Lafayette, LA): with Gertrude C. Taylor, Land Grants of the Southwestern Opelousas District, 1982; with Gertrude C. Taylor, Land Grants on Upper Vermilion River, 1982; and, with Gertrude Taylor and Glenn R. Conrad, Land Grants, Land Claims, and Public Land Sales, 1821- 1856, of the Lower Vermilion Area, 1983. Contributor to books, including The Cajuns: Essays on Their History and Culture, edited by Glenn R. Conrad, University of Southern Louisiana Press (Lafayette, LA), 1978; Acadie tropicale: Poesie de Louisiane, Centre d'Etudes louisianaises, 1983; The Sun King: Louis XIV and the New World, edited by Stephen G. Reinhardt, Louisiana State Museum (New Orleans, LA), 1984; (seventy-six biographical sketches in) Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, 1988; Biographies of Louisiana's Governors, edited by Joseph G. Dawson III, Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA), 1990; Encyclopedia of American Immigrant Cultures, Macmillan, 1997; and American National Biography, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1999. Contributor of articles and book reviews to periodicals, including American Historical Review, Attakapas Gazette, Louisiana History, Louisiana Review, McNeese Review, Gulf Coast Historical Review, Acadiensis: Journal of the History of the Atlantic Region, Journal of Popular Culture, Architecture South, Mississippi River Routes, Feux Follets, and Louisiane.

Editor with Glenn R. Conrad, six-pamphlet series: Top Ten Essays: [1980-1985] Louisiana History Essay Contest, Louisiana Historical Association (Baton Rouge, LA), 1981-86. Editor with others, A Franco-American Overview Series, volumes V-IX, National Bilingual Materials Development Center, 1979-82. Managing editor, Attakapas Gazette, 1975-79, Attakapas Historical Association's special publications series, 1975-77, Louisiana History Newsletter, 1993--, Louisiana History, 1993--, and the World Wide Web pages of the Louisiana Historical Association and the Center for Louisiana Studies, 1996--. Consulting editor of Louisiana Review/Revue de Louisiane, 1976-82, and Attakapas Gazette, 1979--. Associate editor, Revue Francophone de Louisiane/Louisiana Francophone Review, 1984-86; and associate editor of and contributor to Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, 1982-88. Editorial board member, Gulf Coast Historical Review, 1987--, and Red River Valley Historical Quarterly, 1997--.

Work under the pseudonym Antoine Bourque includes: Paroles et Musique and, with Math� Allain and Barry Ancelet, Les Editions de la Nouvelle Acadie, both "ecrits litteraires"; "nouvelle, " "Ma vie parmi les t�tes rouges" in Feux Follets, III (1993); and poems in Louisiane and Acadie tropicale: Poesie de Louisiane, Centre d'Etudes louisianaises (Lafayette, LA), 1983.

Source Citation

Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2006. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2006.
http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC

 

Past Louisiana Writer Award Recipients

Yusef Komunyakaa
October 2007

Elmore Leonard
October 2006

Lewis P. Simpson
October 2005

Shirley Ann Grau
November 2004

Carl Brasseaux
November 2003

James Lee Burke
November 2002

William J. Smith
April 2001

Ernest J. Gaines
October 2000