LSU’s Hill Memorial Library recently opened a new exhibit called “Woven Louisiana History: Acadian Textiles,” exploring and celebrating the craftsmanship of Louisiana Acadians.

Books older than the United States Congress, fabrics, clothing and blankets made decades ago and varying documentations of Louisiana history are displayed throughout the library. 

The walls of the exhibit are lined with different quilts, handspun and woven blankets and artwork. On the left side, is a wood art piece created in the 1970s by Chestee Harrington called, “Madonna of the Mass,” depicting an Acadian mother holding her child. Additionally, there were books focused on the handmade production of clothing and blankets, a paper from 1788 documenting the sale of indigo and rice seeds and more, all focused on life and tradition in Louisiana. 

Director and Curator for the LSU Textile & Costume Museum Michael E. Mamp spoke to the Reveille about the exhibit, sharing his personal favorite piece as an 80 inch by 60 inch indigo dyed patchwork quilt dating back to the early 20th century, something rare to come by nowadays.

According to Mamp, there are essentially no Acadian clothes of history leftover because they were hard workers and used their clothes to the fullest extent. The quilt was made of leftover scraps of clothes that Mamp said the museum was lucky to find. 

Before working for LSU, one of the things that enticed Mamp to Louisiana was the history of Acadian weaving.

“I knew that the Acadian Handicraft Project Archive existed here at the Memorial Hill Library,” Mamp said. “The Acadians, or what people may refer to today as Cajuns, had a rich weaving tradition that was protected and preserved by the Acadian Handicraft Project that was from the early 1940s to 1962, started by LSU graduate “Loulou,” Louise Olivier, and those records are held here, at the Hill.”

To make the exhibition happen, Mamp collaborated with Leah Jewett, the exhibitions manager for the LSU Libraries Special Collection. “I have all the textiles, you have all the records, wouldn’t that make a great exhibition, and so, here we are,” Mamp said of the organizing process.

Jewett hoped that visitors to the exhibit would not only see the superb craftsmanship of the items on display, but come to understand the tradition, importance and preservation efforts behind each one. She is excited about teaching the stories behind the textiles on display, even having an oral history or photograph of some of the weavers themselves.

“This is an immigrant story, it’s a story of agricultural products, it’s a story of Louisiana history, it’s a story of French Acadiana and it’s a story of women makers for the most part,” Mamp said. “It’s a really unique opportunity to tell Louisiana’s history.”

It’s a history that for a long time, couldn’t be openly celebrated and even faced threats of total erasure.

“Specifically as it related to French culture and history, there was an attempt to suppress speaking other languages than English. And so the Acadian Handicraft Project began in part, in 1942, as a way to help preserve French culture, language, music, and craft practices,” Mamp said. But all that changed when Olivier, the project’s founder, died, leaving a gap in that history. “From 1962, until now, which is over 50 years, we have lost another generation of makers, and those traditions, for whatever reason, haven’t been passed down the same way they did in the past.”

The recent scarcity of Acadian textile traditions is why the exhibit goes to such lengths to celebrate the artists behind the works, including Jewett’s personal favorites Madame Dronet and Gladis Clark, whose artworks were received by two U.S. first ladies. 

Madam Dronet’s work was given to Lou Henry Hoover, and Gladis Clark gave her work to Hillary Clinton. When Clark was photographed with Clinton, she could be seen wearing a traditional Acadian costume, showcasing a culture to the nation.

“These blankets could not be rushed. You’re growing your own cotton, you’re pulling the seeds out … you can’t rush it,” Jewett said. “It’s practical, it’s beautiful. It is very grounding for me, and I’d like for people to come in, take a deep breath, and come to appreciate that it took time and has stood the test of time.”

The Hill Memorial Library is open every weekday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Acadian Textiles exhibit will be in the library until Dec. 13.