Sue Eakin
Encyclopedia
Myrtle Sue Lyles Eakin, known as Sue Eakin (December 7, 1918–September 17, 2009), was an American
professor
, newspaper
columnist
, and historian
from Bunkie
in Avoyelles Parish
, who researched Louisiana
history, particularly the Old South
plantation
system.
in south Rapides Parish
, the eldest child of Samuel Pickles Lyles, Sr., and the former Marie Myrtle Guy She graduated from Lecompte High School in nearby Lecompte
.
On January 31, 1941, Sue Lyles married Paul Mechlin Eakin, Sr., (July 19, 1917–February 6, 1995) of Pittsburgh
, Pennsylvania
, later New Jersey
. They resided in Bunkie, where he was a financial consultant and she a professional freelance journalist and a columnist
for the Alexandria Daily Town Talk
, the Opelousas Daily World, in Opelousas
, the seat of St. Landry Parish
, and the New Orleans Times-Picayune
, traditionally the state’s largest newspaper. From 1957 to 1959, Paul and Sue Eakin owned and operated the Bunkie Record newspaper.
At the age of forty-two, she began commuting to Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge to earn two master's degree
s, one in journalism
and the other in history. She was one of thirteen students in the nation to receive an educational grant from the American Association of University Women
.
, which had been established in 1960 as a junior college
, later made a four-year institution. In an interview with The Town Talk, her LSUA colleague, Patsy K. Barber of Lecompte recalled that Eakin as "a master teacher [who] researched, she knew her topic and knew how to place her topic into the larger setting. She could hold you spellbound. The creative ideas just spilled out." Barber and Eakin collaborated on several books about the history of Rapides Parish and Lecompte.
Eakin's best known work is an edited 1968 version of the slave diary by Solomon Northup
: Twelve Years a Slave: And Plantation Life in the Antebellum South
. Northup was a free black man from Saratoga
, New York
, who was captured into slavery
in 1841 and brought to Louisiana. The book is considered one of the best firsthand accounts of slave life in existence.
Eakin received numerous research grants, awards, and honors, including the 1970 designation as "Outstanding American History Professor" from the Daughters of the American Revolution
. In 1987, she was named to the "Distinguished Faculty of the LSU System". The Bunkie Rotary International
named her "Citizen of the Year" in 1985. In 1980, she was named "Distinguished Artist of Avoyelles Parish". In 1995, she was grand marshal of the Festival du Courtableau, or Washington Catfish
Festival in Washington
in St. Landry Parish. In 2001, she was named to the Hall of Fame of the LSU Manship School of Mass Communications in Baton Rouge, named for Douglas Manship, former publisher of Baton Rouge Morning Advocate.
At the age of sixty, Eakin received her Ph.D.
in history from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
, then known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette
. She continued writing and research projects after her retirement as a professor emeritus at LSUA.
Eakin was also an archivist
for the Louisiana State Archives and Records Service in Baton Rouge. Along with a sister, Manie L. Culbertson, Eakin 1986 published Louisiana, The Land and Its People, the textbook used in junior high classes of Louisiana history.Another of her works is Avoyelles Parish: Crossroads of Louisiana.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
, newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
columnist
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
, and historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
from Bunkie
Bunkie, Louisiana
Bunkie is a city in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 4,662 at the 2000 census.Bunkie is the birthplace of jazz drummer Zutty Singleton. Sue Eakin, Louisiana historian and former publisher of the Bunkie Record, resided in Bunkie for most of her life until her death in...
in Avoyelles Parish
Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana
Avoyelles is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Marksville. In 2000, its population was 41,481. The parish is named for the Avoyel Indian tribe.-History:...
, who researched Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
history, particularly the Old South
Old South
Geographically, Old South is a subregion of the American South, differentiated from the "Deep South" as being the Southern States represented in the original thirteen American colonies, as well as a way of describing the former lifestyle in the Southern United States. Culturally, the term can be...
plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
system.
Early years
Eakin was born on the Compromise Plantation in the Lyles community at Loyd Bridge near CheneyvilleCheneyville, Louisiana
Cheneyville is a town in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the Alexandria, Louisiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 901 at the 2000 census....
in south Rapides Parish
Rapides Parish, Louisiana
-Military Installations:*Camp Beauregard *Esler Airfield *England Air Force Base *Camp Claiborne *Camp Livingston -Demographics:...
, the eldest child of Samuel Pickles Lyles, Sr., and the former Marie Myrtle Guy She graduated from Lecompte High School in nearby Lecompte
Lecompte, Louisiana
Lecompte is a town in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the Alexandria, Louisiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,366 at the 2000 census....
.
On January 31, 1941, Sue Lyles married Paul Mechlin Eakin, Sr., (July 19, 1917–February 6, 1995) of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, later New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. They resided in Bunkie, where he was a financial consultant and she a professional freelance journalist and a columnist
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
for the Alexandria Daily Town Talk
The Town Talk (Alexandria)
The Town Talk, started as The Daily Town Talk in 1883 and later named the Alexandria Daily Town Talk, is the major newspaper of Central Louisiana. It is published by Gannett in Alexandria, the seat of Rapides Parish and the economic center of Central Louisiana.The daily newspaper has a circulation...
, the Opelousas Daily World, in Opelousas
Opelousas, Louisiana
Opelousas is a city in and the parish seat of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies at the junction of Interstate 49 and U.S. Route 190. The population was 22,860 at the 2000 census. Although the 2006 population estimate was 23,222, a 2004 annexation should put the city's...
, the seat of St. Landry Parish
St. Landry Parish, Louisiana
St. Landry Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is at the heart of Acadian/Cajun culture and heritage in Louisiana. The parish seat is Opelousas. According to the 2010 census, the population of St. Landry Parish is 83,384.St...
, and the New Orleans Times-Picayune
New Orleans Times-Picayune
The Times-Picayune is a daily newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.-History:Established as The Picayune in 1837 by Francis Lumsden and George Wilkins Kendall, the paper's initial price was one picayune—a Spanish coin equivalent to 6¼¢ .Under Eliza Jane Nicholson, who inherited the...
, traditionally the state’s largest newspaper. From 1957 to 1959, Paul and Sue Eakin owned and operated the Bunkie Record newspaper.
At the age of forty-two, she began commuting to Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
in Baton Rouge to earn two master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
s, one in journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
and the other in history. She was one of thirteen students in the nation to receive an educational grant from the American Association of University Women
American Association of University Women
The American Association of University Women advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. It was founded in 1882 by Ellen Swallow Richards and Marion Talbot...
.
Teaching and research
Eakin then began a 25-year teaching career at Louisiana State University at AlexandriaLouisiana State University at Alexandria
Louisiana State University at Alexandria is located in Alexandria, Louisiana. Louisiana State University at Alexandria is a publicly supported institution that provides undergraduatelevel college education to the citizens of Central Louisiana. The university is a unit of the LSU System and operates...
, which had been established in 1960 as a junior college
Junior college
The term junior college refers to different educational institutions in different countries.-India:In India, most states provide schooling through 12th grade...
, later made a four-year institution. In an interview with The Town Talk, her LSUA colleague, Patsy K. Barber of Lecompte recalled that Eakin as "a master teacher [who] researched, she knew her topic and knew how to place her topic into the larger setting. She could hold you spellbound. The creative ideas just spilled out." Barber and Eakin collaborated on several books about the history of Rapides Parish and Lecompte.
Eakin's best known work is an edited 1968 version of the slave diary by Solomon Northup
Solomon Northup
Solomon Northup was a free-born African-American mulatto. He was born in Minerva, Essex County, New York. He disappeared in 1863.-Family history:...
: Twelve Years a Slave: And Plantation Life in the Antebellum South
Twelve Years a Slave
Twelve Years a Slave is the written work of Solomon Northup - a man who was born free, but was bound into slavery later in life.-Synopsis:The book, which was originally published in 1853, tells...
. Northup was a free black man from Saratoga
Saratoga, New York
Saratoga is a town in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 5,141 at the 2000 census. It is also the commonly used, but not official, name for the neighboring and much more populous city, Saratoga Springs. The major village in the town of Saratoga is Schuylerville which is...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, who was captured into slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
in 1841 and brought to Louisiana. The book is considered one of the best firsthand accounts of slave life in existence.
Eakin received numerous research grants, awards, and honors, including the 1970 designation as "Outstanding American History Professor" from the Daughters of the American Revolution
Daughters of the American Revolution
The Daughters of the American Revolution is a lineage-based membership organization for women who are descended from a person involved in United States' independence....
. In 1987, she was named to the "Distinguished Faculty of the LSU System". The Bunkie Rotary International
Rotary International
Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...
named her "Citizen of the Year" in 1985. In 1980, she was named "Distinguished Artist of Avoyelles Parish". In 1995, she was grand marshal of the Festival du Courtableau, or Washington Catfish
Catfish
Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...
Festival in Washington
Washington, Louisiana
Washington is a small town in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,082 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Opelousas–Eunice Micropolitan Statistical Area....
in St. Landry Parish. In 2001, she was named to the Hall of Fame of the LSU Manship School of Mass Communications in Baton Rouge, named for Douglas Manship, former publisher of Baton Rouge Morning Advocate.
At the age of sixty, Eakin received her Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in history from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, or UL Lafayette, is a coeducational, public research university located in Lafayette, Louisiana, in the heart of Acadiana...
, then known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
. She continued writing and research projects after her retirement as a professor emeritus at LSUA.
Eakin was also an archivist
Archivist
An archivist is a professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to information determined to have long-term value. The information maintained by an archivist can be any form of media...
for the Louisiana State Archives and Records Service in Baton Rouge. Along with a sister, Manie L. Culbertson, Eakin 1986 published Louisiana, The Land and Its People, the textbook used in junior high classes of Louisiana history.Another of her works is Avoyelles Parish: Crossroads of Louisiana.