A new photography exhibit at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Edith Garland Dupré Library offers viewers an intimate window into the lives of girls and women in rural Louisiana during the early 1900s. Photos, alongside descriptions with historic details about daily life, reveal a deeper context behind black-and-white scenes of girls playing dolls, preparing for marriage and adapting to the “flapper” fashions of the 1920s.
The exhibit, titled “Becoming Woman,” also highlights the responsibilities women had in the rural town of Crowley, La., from the 1910s through 1930s. Photographs and captions were provided, courtesy of Barnett Studio, a photography studio based in Crowley during the 20th century. The exhibit is on display in the Jefferson Caffery Reading Room.
Scott Jordan, digitization archivist and interim head of Special Collections , said the library acquired the photographs from the Department of History, Geography and Philosophy last year as an archival collection, originally completed in the late 1970s.
“The photographs put you in touch with history,” Jordan said. “They connect you to the history of this region and give you a better understanding of the experiences that women had.”
The exhibit explores how women socialized with each other, the relationships between men and women, race relations, and cultural expectations. "Becoming Woman” shows the powerful role women in the region played in shaping generations that came after them.
The exhibit is open to the public. Special Collections is located on the third floor of Edith Garland Dupré Library. It is open from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. Learn more at library.louisiana.edu.