A Day of Commemoration is scheduled July 28 at the Acadian Memorial in St. Martinville.
From 3 to 5 p.m., Anne and Judy Riffel, professional genealogists, will be inducted into the Order of Living Legends, honoring those who helped shape and define the Cajun/Acadian culture. Judy will speak on her Acadian ancestry. A reception follows.
On July 28, 1755, the British governor of Acadie, Charles Lawrence, ordered Lt. Col. Robert Monckton “to send all the French Inhabitants out of the Province.” The order covered roughly the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island and the U.S. state of Maine and was carried out amid a resistance movement that continued for seven years. The ensuing diaspora spans both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, including Louisiana.
The Acadian Memorial honors the Acadians who arrived in Louisiana from 1764 through 1785.
Beginning in 1988, Warren Perrin spearheaded a campaign to compel Queen Elizabeth II of England to apologize for the Acadians’ expulsion from Nova Scotia. In 2003, the Governor General of Canada, on behalf of Queen Elizabeth, signed a proclamation acknowledging the wrongs committed against the Acadians in the name of the British crown. The proclamation also established an annual day of commemoration on July 28 in Canada.
Ann and Judy Riffel became interested in genealogy in 1976 when Ann read an article in a Bicentennial column of the newspaper that mentioned a family name. Their quest to make a connection sparked a life-long interest in genealogy for this mother-daughter team.
They have been active members and officers in Le Comité des Archives de la Louisiane, a statewide archival preservation group. Judy has been treasurer since 1982 and editor of the society’s journal, Le Raconteur, since 1984, and Ann is currently serving as president.
The two have spent decades locating historical records of interest to genealogists and making them more easily accessible to the public. Judy has translated countless French and Spanish colonial documents while Ann has, until recently, been her trusty indexer, researcher, and proofreader. Together, they have compiled numerous articles and books on Louisiana genealogy, including a book on St. Martin Parish cemeteries.
Ann DeVillier Riffel, born in Krotz Springs in 1926, has deep Acadian roots in south Louisiana, including: Albert, Ayo, Benoit, Boudreaux, Bourg, Breaux, Broussard, Comeaux, Daigle, Doucet, Dupuis, Guidry, Lebert, LeBlanc, Roger, Trahan, and Usé.
Judy,born in Baton Rouge in 1959,is a graduate of Istrouma High School and LSU. In 2000, she began working full-time as a professional genealogist. She has conducted research for numerous national genealogy television shows including Finding Your Roots, Genealogy Roadshow, and Who Do You Think You Are?, and she co-hosted a local genealogy show, Roots of Faith: Ancestry, from 2014-2017. Since 2015, she has been the lead genealogist for the Georgetown Memory Project, a non-profit organization tracing the descendants of some 300 enslaved persons sold by the Jesuits in Maryland and sent to Louisiana plantations in 1838.
Àcadian Memorial Foundation Board President Tracy Frederick notes, “It is important for us to recognize Judy and Ann Riffel for the decades they have spent making records of genealogical interest more accessible to the public through the numerous articles and books they have compiled on Louisiana and Acadian genealogy.”.
The Order of Living Legends was established in 1996, by Kermit Bouillion, a director of the Acadian Museum of Erath. The Order honors people who have helped shape and define the Cajun-Acadian culture in Louisiana. Each year on July 28, the Acadian Museum joins with the Acadian Memorial to recognize someone who has made significant contributions to the Louisiana Cajun-Acadian culture and the Acadian Memorial.
The Acadian Memorial is located at 121 S. New Market St. in St. Martinville. Entry to the Acadian Memorial is free of charge for the day. For more information, call 337-394-2258 or email at info@acadianmemorial.org.