acadian memorial

We love St Martinville. Not only is a historic town, but also very quaint with shops and Evangeline/Acadian sights and stories. The church is beautiful, and highlights our Acadian heritage. The artist used present day descendants to represent their ancestors.

St Martinville is a nice village where you will find the Acadian Memorial.There is a large mural with audio, which tells the story of the Acadians that fled here.On the opposite side there is a wall filled with names of people who traveled to this area.Next door there is a museum split into 2 sections. The left side tells the history of the Acadians and the right side covers the African Americans.The entrance fee of $3 covers both the museum and the memorial.Staff was very helpful and can also advise you on other things to do in the area.Outside you will find a small little park with the beautiful Evangeline Oak.

One of the museums in town, is the Acadian Memorial. it has a companion musuem of the African American Museum, For a combined fee of three dollars, you can see both and it is a bargain at twice the price.The Acadian Memorial is based upon the story of the local families of the region who were forced to leave Canada when expelled by the British. There is a detailed mural depicting many of the families as they landed in the region. The narrative will provide fascinating details of each family and the trails and truimphs that they experience in the new land.

Staying in a local B&B, we walked over to the Memorial museum, and for $3 pp. you can take the tour of both buildings (Black American history & Acadian). The beautiful mural provides a talking history of what the first Acadians went through, upon being forced to resettle here, from Nova Scotia & Prince Edward Island areas, by the British. The volunteer ladies can trace their history back to those names on the bronze plaque. Nice museum!

We stopped here to see the mural of the arriving Acadians since some our ancestors were pictured in it. This stop only took about 30 minutes and was interesting. The museum is in 2 buildings with one $3 entry fee for both. The left one is the Acadian Memorial and the right one covers the African American Heritage.

This is a small museum but very well planned, informative and moving. There are two parts to the museum, the first we visited was dedicated to the Acadians who were forced to leave their homeland and came to Louisiana in the mid 1700s. Across the back wall is a large mural showing descendants of the Acadians in the mode of dress at that time. As the audio tells the story of the Acadian Exiles, individuals on the mural are spotlighted. That person (who is a direct descendant of the original exiled person), tells their deportation story. It is moving. On the wall opposite the mural, is a very large bronze placque with the name of each refugee and the name of the boat that transported them. The second musuem is in another building and dedicated to the history of the African Americans and their contribution and influence on the culture in this area. There are a number of enlarged photographs and artifacts relative to the time period. Both musuems are very well done and the people there are most helpful. This attraction would appeal to any history buff but especially those who are interested in Cajun culture. There is also a Meditation garden on the bayou and seating underneath the trees by the bayou which I think would be really nice in the summer months.

There are two buildings to this museum. One has 2 sections, one being a history of African Americans and the other of Acadian culture. The other one is devoted to the expulsion of the French from Nova Scotia and their arrival in south Louisiana. The one has a murial on one wall and an audio history and a list of Acadians who were expelled from northeastern Canada on the other wall. Both are very interesting places to visit. For an admission fee of $3, one gets a lot for his money.

Very dramatic to hear the stories of the Acadian diaspora read aloud with the mural

I enjoyed hearing about the Acadian history in this small memorial museum. A nice, brief stop along the route.

One hall shows a video presentation detailing some personal stories of what many of the families endured. The 2nd hall has a larger variety of historical info - both are well worth a visit.

What a great story showing the Acadians "journey" from Nova Scotia to Louisiana....a very unique culture still alive today.

Loved learning about the history of the French in Louisiana. The Acadian Memorial was great and as a bonus, the museum next door had another room full of Acadian History as well as an exhibit on Louisiana salvery.

Very well done and informative. My husband knew nothing about Cajuns, Acadia, the migration. So this was a real eye opener for him.

For people who are into genealogy and have family who were exiled from Acadia, it is a great experience.I descend from the Boudreaux family and was able to find two of my families on the wall of names in the Acadian Memorial.I now know the names of the ships my family was put on when they were exiled to South Louisiana. The wall mural is gorgeous. I even went online and purchased a replica print of it. There are family crests outside in the back of the memorial on the sidewalk. There is also a large cross out there from Acadia. There is a museum next door to the Memorial that gives a history of the Cajuns. Beautiful quilt in there that tells the story of their life and exile. St. Martinville is a lovely and quaint town. We also visited the Catholic church. Please note - don't visit the town on a Monday. Everything (bakery, local restaurants, etc.) (except the Acadian Memorial) are closed on Mondays because they open on the weekend. Seemed very safe. We walked all around downtown. We also visited Longfellow-Evangeline State Park which is just a couple of miles from downtown.Lovely creole house on the grounds. Beautiful grounds and nice tour.

St Martinville est le lieu emblématique du « grand dérangement » des Acadiens. C’est en effet ici que se trouve le chêne vert du poème d’Evangéline et Gabriel, écrit par Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, dans lequel les deux amants sont séparés par un destin tragique. Juste à côté, le Cultural Center et African Museum détaille l’histoire des populations du sud de la Louisiane : africains esclaves, hommes de couleur libres, colons blancs et Acadiens déportés.Dans le bâtiment voisin, l’Acadian Memorial présente d’un côté la peinture murale « L’arrivée des Acadiens en Louisiane » (par Robert Dafford), avec une bande son relatant divers témoignages d’immigrés (en français). De l’autre côté, le « Mur des Noms » liste les quelques 3000 personnes identifiées comme Acadien(ne)s d’origine dans des documents historiques, afin de permettre aux descendants en quête de leur histoire de retrouver leur généalogie. C'est émouvant.Ouvert de 10h00 à 16h30 pour 3$/pers. nous y étions le 06 Mai 2013.Visite à compléter par celle de l'église St Martin de Tours et une petite balade en ville.