Photo by Brian Pavlich

The Acadian Museum in Erath is not the kind of place to go to soak up sleek, homogenized displays on history. As this category’s curator, Barry Ancelet, said, it’s more like visiting someone’s home.

Someone who has a home full of really interesting stuff, that is.

Ancelet said he selected the museum because of its intimate nature and homemade message.

“It’s small, easy to visit and homemade. It’s got a vernacular message,” Ancelet said. “I like big museums, too—Vermilionvile, Jean Lafitte, but I also love local, homemade museums that communicate to the public in dialect.”

Ancelet said larger museums communicate well and have an institutional perspective. The Acadian Museum in Erath’s eclectic nature and interesting collection, on the other hand, “tells a story that more resembles oral tradition than literary tradition,” he said. “It’s not pre-occupied in being encyclopedic.”

The Acadian Museum contains three rooms: the Erath Room, the Acadian Room and the Prairie Bayou Cajun Room. Le Café du Musée is next door. The museum features a wide variety of displays and exhibits, including music-related items on Dudley LeBlanc, D.L. Menard and many other well-known Cajun musicians and non-musicians.

“Their exhibits show they’re dedicated not only to things but to people,” Ancelet said.

The museum’s occasional cultural programming is also a treat. Since 1997, the museum’s Living Legends, a sort of Cajun Hall of Fame, has recognized and honored individuals who help shape and define Cajun culture. The museum continues to induct influential people into Living Legends.

Interested in visiting, but wondering if the Acadian Museum is hard to find?

“It’s not any harder to find than Erath,” Ancelet said, “right in the middle of downtown Erath. When you’re done there, you can always go say hi to D.L. Menard.”

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