Catherine Blanchet’s life work to be honored on Jan. 7 in Abbeville

Mayor Mark Piazza and the Abbeville City Council have declared January 7, 2022, as Catherine Brookshire Blanchet Day.
In the 1940s, Catherine documented songs and round dances in French by recording school children and adults when she was the music supervisor of Vermilion Parish Schools. She dedicated the rest of her life to teaching and sharing this treasury.
On Friday, Jan. 7, 2022, from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., the descendants of the people she recorded, her students, and the community are invited to the Vermilion Parish Public Library to remember Catherine, to sing and dance. The goal is to pass on these traditions to a new generation.
This public event is sponsored by the Acadian Museum of Erath, aided by the Center for Louisiana Studies at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and funded with support from the Louisiana Folklore Society, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Louisiana Division of the Arts and the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism.

Proclamation for Catherine Adelaide Brookshire Blanchet

Below is the proclamation signed last Friday by Abbeville Mayor Mark Piazza:

WHEREAS, Catherine Adelaide Brookshire was born on April 20, 1921 in Kaplan the only child of C.H. (Harry) Brookshire and Julia Jacob Brookshire; and

WHEREAS, upon graduating from Kaplan High School she attended Tulane University’s Newcomb College, earning a degree in music; and

WHEREAS, during WWII Catherine joined the American Red Cross, and was stationed in Key West, Florida and taught adult literacy and volunteered for Tuberculosis Association, Easter Seals, American Cancer Society to name a few; and

WHEREAS, after graduating from Newcomb College, Catherine realized that the rich culture of South Louisiana was in danger of being lost due to assimilation. She became determined to help preserve and perpetuate that heritage. She travelled to remote areas of Vermilion Parish and recorded adults singing ballads in their homes. She was taught how to use a spinning wheel, weave, and raised brown cotton for use in spinning and weaving; and

WHEREAS, in 1950 Catherine married R. Edward Blanchet. In 1970 they decided to open the Blanchet School. At the Blanchet School Catherine established Acadian Assembly, a group of students who performed traditional Acadian music and dance including dances from Les Danses Rondes; and

WHEREAS, in 1955, with Maria Del Norte, she published Les Danses Rondes, a collection of Acadiana folk songs and round dances. In 1984 at the Louisiana World Exposition in New Orleans she demonstrated traditional Acadiana Crafts; and

WHEREAS, she enrolled in the USL School of Music, earning a Master’s degree in Musicology, publishing her thesis: Louisiana French Folk Songs Among Children in Vermilion Parish 1942 to 1954; and

WHEREAS, in 1996 Catherine received the Lifetime Achievement Award from CODIFIL for her work in perpetuating Acadian Culture; and

WHEREAS, in 2019 Catherine received the ICON Arts and Cultural Awards, posthumously, as a Trailblazer for inspiring others to study our history and heritage, organizing musical festivals, always promoting Acadian folk songs, and for being an early advocate of French language education in public schools; and
Now, Therefore, I, Mark Piazza, Mayor of the City of Abbeville and the Abbeville City Council Declare
January 7, 2022
Catherine Adelaide Brookshire Blanchet Day

In honor of all that Catherine contributed to our community and Vermilion Parish in preserving our unique heritage through music, dance and education