Southwestern Louisiana Institute - Lacadien Yearbook (Lafayette, LA)

Page 28 text:

Roll of the Avatar Literary Society Floi-cncc Adams W. AiKlcrs (J. Am-iicaiix Louis I ' . BatrniTv Ilalli.. .M. Bibhins Kiiiiior- Blaiichf ' t Fi-aiikliii lioyrl ClifT ' onl Brown John J. Bufkley P. Cha.stant E. Coinpton Ilonora Cottar Fi-i ' dcrifk Curlcy Henry ( ' . ( ■iirlcy F. Daiyle Derouen Louis Donieii vMux E. Doufct 7 ' ]l()(li( ' Fay Tlicliiia Ford (iiistavo B. Galdo Hester (iardner Eutjene Kent Ruth Kent Aurore Tjabl)e Edward Laeour Edna Laiiibei-t Fannie Fern Larrabee Mildred Stirling? Larrabee Dudley J. LeBlane Florence Lester John Lloyd Lee Eobert 11. Lowrey Samuel B. Lyons CJertrude IMcC ' onnell Cora Merritt Laura IMerritt Mai-pai-et Miller Fffie Mouton (jlrovei E. .Mouton liattie Mary Mouton Lilla jMouton Ella Poehe Murphy J. F. Poret F. Reeves Rosa Robin Kmile Hoderiti ' ue Hilda Rosenfield IMary Ida Rup:er Pattie P. Thompson Milton Salvo Edna E. Vix Waiter B. Williams Helen A. Wilson —26-

Page 27 text:

L ' A c a d i e n Historical Sketch of the Attakapas Literary Society Rah! Rah! Rah! Attakapas! A little better than Avatar! HE ATTAKAPAS LITERARY SOCIETY, the rival and companion of the Avatar, was the first society oroanized at S. L. I. I. It was launched in 1901 by a set of the iiiost earliest and studious boys and irls in the school, who put forth vigorous efforts to make it a success, and they did so. It was named Attakapas in honor of this section of Louisiana. Some time after the Avatar Society was oroanized it was de- cided to make of the Attakapas an exclusively boys ' society, and of the Avatai- a irls ' society, and this worked very well for the time, but public sentiment seemed to favor having the membership mixed in both societies, and in the following year the old status was restored. The Attakapas has always had a large membership and has taken a very active interest in the annual debates, winning the Julian iMouton gold medal as many times, if not more, than tlie Avatar. It also has interesting plays, I ' eadings and nnisic on its programs, and drills its members in parliamentary rules. It keeps awake the social element in the .school, and constantly improves the spirit of study and investigation among its members. The historian of the next generation will relate how some of the greatest men and women of the day got their start toward greatness through having in their youth b( en members of the Attakapas Society of S. L. I. I. -25-

Page 29 text:

L A c a d i e n Historical Sketch of the Avatar Literary Society HE word avatar, from Hindu iiiythology, means the incarnation of a spirit in some nuiteria] form, and the Society was so named to indicate that its organization was to be itself an embodiment of the spirit of educa- tion and jirogress — an avatar of intelligence and culture. So far as we know, no other society has over had this name, so we may claim its copyright. The Avatar Literary Society was organized in 1902 and has always had a goodly number of members, running along hand in hand with its sister society, the Attakapas. In its first year the annual debating contest with the Attakapas began to be held, for the Julian ] Iouton gold medal. This medal is given each year for the best individual debater of the two societies, and the Avatar has fairly divided the honors of winning it with its rival during the ten years of their lii.story. During that time nearly all the great questions of law and goverinnent, public policy, .sociology, history, philosophy and ethics, have been analyzed, di.scussed and illuminated, if not finally settled, by prominent members of the Avatar Society. And we have also had tine pi-ograms of music. literat;ire and histrionics, as well as practice in parliamentary j)rocedure. Later on, when we become members of the Legislature or of Congress, or perhaps militant .suffragettes, we shall doubtless have occasion to show the valuable training and experience we had in the Avatar liiterarv Societv at dear old S. L. L L