HISTORY
    The Acadian Memorial dates back to 1991, when the former city hall building was designated as such.  It is located in St. Martinville, Louisiana.   St. Martinville, located less than 1/2 hour SW of Lafayette is a small town where some of the earliest Acadians settled ... then called the Attakapas region.  A wall-size mural was done by Robert Dafford on the Acadians and unveiled on Oct. 28, 1995.  Less than two months later, an eternal flame was lit in memory of the Acadians.  In 1996, 2 poster boards were set up: one had the ship lists from the seven 1785 ships, and the other had all other Acadians who came to Louisiana in the 1700s.  The bronze Wall of Names has been completed with the names of all of the Acadian immigrants who came to Louisiana.  The research room is also open.   Since they are dependent upon donations to purchase reference materials, your contributions are encouraged.
    Another aspect of the Memorial is an online database, Ensemble Encore, of the Acadian immigrants and their families.  Be sure to check it out.
     The Memorial also has its own web page..  It has additional information on attractions in the St. Martinville area. 

• The Multimedia Archive, a research tool for everyone from the curious visitor to the genealogy hobbyist to the university researcher.
• The Acadian Memorial Orientation Center, to be housed next to the Memorial, needs your contributions for exhibit construction.
• Equipment, like stanchions for crowd control and window coverings to protect the commemorative mural, furnishings, computers, artifacts, historic costumes and other necessities.
• Programs, like the talk in April 1997 by visiting researcher Gérard Braud on the 1600 Acadians in Nantes who came to Louisiana, or the celebration on August 15, of La Fete Nationale des Acadians, the National Day of the Acadians.  First-person interpretations or short play about Louisiana's early Acadians such as Olivier Terriot and Elisabeth Thibodeau Brasseur can only be featured regularly with your support.