History
History of Acadian and Cajun Genetics
The Louisiana Genetics and Hereditary Health Care Education Center has enjoyed the privilege of hosting scholars of international renown, like geneticist and encyclopedist Dr. Charles Scriver of McGill University and Acadian historian and author Dr. Carl Brasseaux of the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. Drs. Scriver and Brasseaux have served as the original Keynote Speakers of the Center's Genetics of the Acadian People forums held across Acadiana. They have graciously allowed us to share the message of their speeches with you, and we reproduce those messages here.
The Center intends to continue its series of Genetics of the Acadian People forums, and, especially for our colleagues and friends who are unable to attend, we will continue to share messages of Keynote Speakers in this section of The Louisiana Genetics and Hereditary Health Care Education Center. Together, this collection of essays will help us place in perspective the people known as Acadian and help us better understand their colossal achievement—from their storied and traumatic beginnings in the early seventeenth century to their current position supporting twenty-first century medicine. They developed a strong and enduring culture and identity for four hundred years.