Beausoleil Marks the Spot: Commemorating Le Grand Dérangement in Loreauville, Louisiana

Abstract

This thesis is a hybrid project that includes a research paper and two signs designed for Loreauville, Louisiana. Both components of this thesis focus on the nearly two hundred Acadian holdouts who arrived in Louisiana in 1765 following Le Grand Dérangement. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem Evangeline is interwoven in this thesis just as her mythical personal is considered a cornerstone of Acadian culture, especially in Louisiana. As the goal of the signs was to create a truthful commemoration, Joseph Broussard dit Beausoleil serves as the anchoring connection between Acadie and Louisiana. This thesis uses his journey as a result of Le Grand Dérangement to follow the other Acadian refugees who arrived along the Bayou Teche in Louisiana.