James R. Domengeaux (January 6, 1907 – April 11, 1988) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge who served in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

for from 1941 to 1949. He was a cultural activist of

Cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the US state of Louisiana and surrounding Gulf Coast states. Whi ...

and

Louisiana Creole Louisiana Creole is a French-based creole language spoken by fewer than 10,000 people, mostly in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Also known as Kouri-Vini, it is spoken today by people who may racially identify as white, black, mixed, and Native ...

descent who is best remembered for his efforts to preserve the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-R ...

in his native state.

Early life and career

Domengeaux was born on January 6, 1907, in

Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette ( , ) is the most populous city in and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, Lafayette Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located along the Vermilion River (Louisiana), Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's List of municipaliti ...

to J. Rudolph Domengeaux and the former Marthe Mouton. He attended Mount Carmel Academy and Cathedral

High School A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

in Lafayette. He obtained his undergraduate degree from the

University of Louisiana at Lafayette The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a Public university, public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana, United States. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus Universi ...

(then "Southwestern Louisiana Institute"). He also studied in

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at both Loyola University and

Tulane University Law School The Tulane University School of Law is the law school of Tulane University. It is located on Tulane's Uptown campus in New Orleans, Louisiana. Established in 1847, it is the 12th oldest law school in the United States. Campus The law schoo ...

, from which he received his legal degree in 1931. He was admitted to the bar that same year and launched his law practice in Lafayette. In 1962, Domengeaux was admitted to practice before the

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. He was senior member of Domengeaux and Wright (1931–1984). The firm maintained offices in Lafayette, New Orleans, Hammond in Tangipahoa Parish, and Opelousas, the seat of St. Landry Parish in south central Louisiana.

Personal life

Domengeaux was married to the former Eleanor St. Julien (1921–2004); they had no children. They are interred at St. John's Cemetery in Lafayette.

As cultural activist

In 1968, Domengeaux accepted an appointment from Louisiana Governor

John McKeithen John Julian McKeithen (May 28, 1918 – June 4, 1999) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 49th governor of Louisiana from 1964 to 1972. Early life McKeithen was born in Grayson, Louisiana on May 28, 1918. His father was a ...

, his fellow Democrat, to preside over a new state-charted organization called the

Council for the Development of French in Louisiana The Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL; ) is Louisiana's Office of Francophone Affairs (). It is a state agency whose multiple legislative mandates include developing opportunities to use the French language in tourism, e ...

, commonly known by the acronym CODOFIL. As president of CODOFIL, Domengeaux spearheaded a statewide effort to introduce French education in public classrooms from elementary through high school levels. He did so largely by recruiting teachers from

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, and other

French-speaking French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-Romance, a descendant of the Latin spoken in ...

regions and nations around the world. Such recruitment placed Domengeaux at odds with the educational establishment, which preferred the hiring of local teachers. This effort represented a major shift for Louisiana's educational system, which for decades had punished

children for speaking French in school — a practice that more than any other factor had dramatically reduced the number of native French speakers in the state.Shane K. Bernard, The ''Cajuns: Americanization of a People'' (

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, 2003), p. xx, xxii-xxiii, 18-19, 33-34, 83. In 1976, Domengeaux arranged for the then French President

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, ; ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as simply Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Ministry of the Economy ...

to visit Lafayette. In the 1980s, Domengeaux embraced a new teaching method: French

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, in which children were to be taught a variety of subjects in French for 60 percent of the school day. This method replaced the previous, less successful method of teaching French in only thirty-minute daily increments. In addition to advancing French education, Domengeaux used CODOFIL as a watchdog organization that defended Cajuns from perceived affronts. For example, Domengeaux crusaded against use of the word " coonass," which he considered an ethnic slur against the Cajun people; and he condemned such Cajun humorists as the popular Justin Wilson, who was born not in

Acadiana Acadiana (; French language, French and Cajun French language, Louisiana French: ''L'Acadiane'' or ''Acadiane''), also known as Cajun Country (Cajun French language, Louisiana French: ''Pays des Cadiens''), is the official name given to the ...

, but in Tangipahoa Parish, one of the "

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" east of

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, and who disagreed with Domengeaux politically. A charismatic public figure, Domengeaux was often at odds with detractors, who criticized his reliance on international teachers as well as his emphasis on continental French to the exclusion of

Cajun French Louisiana French (Louisiana French: ''français louisianais''; ) includes the dialects and varieties of the French language spoken traditionally by French Louisianians in colonial Lower Louisiana. As of today Louisiana French is primarily use ...

. For his efforts to save the French language in Louisiana, Domengeaux received an honorary doctorate from

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, the Order of the

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from the French government, and the Order of the Crown from Belgium, among numerous other citations. On November 11, 1986, coinciding with

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, Lafayette Mayor William Dudley Lastrapes and Governor Edwin Washington Edwards proclaimed "Jimmy Domengeaux Day". The University of Louisiana at Lafayette created an "Eminent Scholar Chair in Foreign Languages" in Domengeaux's honor. The organization over which Domengeaux presided for the last two decades of his life, CODOFIL, continues to coordinate French education in Louisiana; and in his honor CODOFIL's supporting foundation offers a scholarship known as the ''Bourse James Domengeaux'' (James Domengeaux Scholarship).

References

* CODOFIL, www.codofil.org *http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=D000406 * "James "Jimmy" Domengeaux", ''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography'', Vol. 1 (1988), pp. 250–251 {{DEFAULTSORT:Domengeaux, James R. Cajun people 1907 births 1988 deaths Politicians from Lafayette, Louisiana Louisiana lawyers University of Louisiana at Lafayette alumni Tulane University alumni Tulane University Law School alumni Democratic Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) American recipients of the Legion of Honour Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Louisiana State Legislature