News release
Public Information Office   SLU 10880   Hammond, LA 70402   phone: 985-549-2341   fax: 985-549-2061
publicinfo@selu.edu Summer  2005 news releases Public Information home News archive

Contact: Christina Chapple
Date: 12/05/05
 
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MADISONVILLE PIONEERS – Southeastern Louisiana University students Edward Brown, Jan Pine and Jo Baham work on the graphics for their exhibit, “Madisonville Pioneers,” one of two exhibits that have been created by Southeastern students for the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum. The exhibits will be unveiled at a reception on Sunday, Dec. 11, from 2-4 p.m. 

ON DISPLAY -- Southeastern Louisiana University students, from left, John Avery, Robin Rodrigue, Justin Barrilleaux and Elaine Kraemer paint one of the panels for their exhibit, “From Natchez to New Orleans: Steamships of the Lower Mississippi River,” which will be on display at the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum.

SOUTHEASTERN STUDENTS TO UNVEIL NEW EXHIBITS AT LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN BASIN MARITIME MUSEUM
       HAMMOND – Madisonville’s Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum is unveiling two new exhibits created by students enrolled in a Southeastern Louisiana University history class.
       The general public is invited to view the exhibits and hear a special presentation by the students at a reception on Sunday, Dec. 11, from 2-4 p.m. 
       Southeastern history professor David Benac said the exhibits explore Madisonville shipbuilding families and the history, structure, and repair of steamboats. “Madisonville Pioneers” was researched, created and installed by Jan Pine of Covington, Jo Baham of Madisonville and Edward Brown of Mandeville. “From Natchez to New Orleans: Steamships of the Lower Mississippi River” is the work of Elaine Kraemer, Amite; Robin Rodrigue, Ponchatoula; Justin Barrilleaux, Hammond; and John Avery, Washington, D.C.
       The seven students are enrolled in “Introduction to Museum Practice,” one of the courses taught by Benac in Southeastern’s minor in public history program. Benac said his class worked closely with museum staff and volunteers, including Nixon Adams, David Carambat, Bob Doolittle, and Ken Millstead, to design and install the new displays.
       “This is the type of outcome we have always wanted to see generated by Southeastern’s partnership with the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum,” said William Robinson, head of Southeastern’s Department of History and Political Science. “The work our students have done is good for the museum, the public and the many school children who visit the museum.
       “It certainly is good for our students themselves,” he added. “It is true service learning. They had the opportunity to do exactly what they will do if they choose to go into museum work,” one of the careers targeted by Southeastern’s two-year-old minor in public history.
       Introduction to Museum Practice, the students admit, has been unique, labor-intensive and rewarding. 
Pine, who was a graphic designer and has years of experience with museums and art associations; Baham, who is a member of one of the boatbuilding families the exhibit will highlight; and Brown, a carpenter, found that their range of expertise blended well. Their “Mandeville Pioneers” will be the first exhibit to greet museum visitors. 
       Pine designed the large graphic background and conducted much of the research. Baham personally collected information, photographs and other items from her family and others such as the Canulettes. Brown also conducted research and is building the podium that will display a “family album,” a book featuring an informational page on each family. While extensive information is available on families such as the Jahnckes, the heritage of others, such as the Drinkwaters, is more obscure. 
       “I’m hoping that their descendants will see the book and add to the information and that it will continue to grow,” Pine said.
       A copy of the book will also be placed in the exhibit’s “heritage trunk,” a wooden trunk containing artifacts such as hand-forged iron nails and hanks of old rope. Teachers will be able to check out the trunk and take it to their classrooms.
       “We started this project before the hurricane,” Baham said. “After, the group asked Dr. Benac if we could change our topic, because we were really uncomfortable” about intruding on people still coping with the hurricane’s aftermath. “I thought people were not going to want to talk to me now. But they have been really excited,” Baham said. “They have a lot of stuff that they nearly lost and now want to put somewhere where it will be preserved.” 
       The steamboat exhibit created by Avery, Barrilleaux, Kramer and Rodrigue consists of three panels and an interactive display.
       “The center panel is a brief history of steamboats as well as some of the early contributors to the engine design,” explained Barrilleaux, a Cultural Resource Management major. “We’ll also show the significance that steamboats had for Louisiana as a transportation innovation. The side panels are going to show structure and repair.”
       While Barrilleaux and Kramer, a recent CRM graduate who plans to pursue a graduate degree focused on public history, concentrated on content and design, Avery and Rodrique, both history graduate students, have put construction and mechanical skills to work on an interactive program that will use air pressure to illustrate a steamboat engine’s moving pistons.
       “We’re trying to make our exhibit as diverse as possible so that it can appeal to a broader audience,” Barrilleaux said.
       In a semester interrupted and disrupted by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the group estimates that they have put at least 12 hours a week into the exhibit – “a lot more than any study group would actually spend together,” Avery said. 
       Their hard work, they said, has not necessarily been inspired by the hope of good grades.
       “Look at the incentive we have,” Barrilleaux laughed. “If we do poorly, it’s not just a grade, it’s a potential public display of shame.”
       “They have done a wonderful job,” said Benac. “These exhibits are a chance for Southeastern to show what we have to offer. This kind of learning outside the classroom gives a whole new dimension to history.”
       “I took this course just because it was taught at night in Madisonville,” admitted Baham. A special education major who works for the St. Tammany Parish School Board, she is the only class member not focusing on a history-related career. “I didn’t really think I would enjoy this. The first night of class I said, ‘You mean we’re going to do an exhibit that’s going to stay; everybody’s going to see it?’ That was intimidating for me. But the research, the history, having so many relatives involved, knowing so many of the people, it’s really been interesting.” 
       For additional information about the exhibits contact Benac at 985-549-5728 or the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum at 985-845-9200.