Connor Benoit is the winner of the 2026 Jefferson Caffery Research Award at the 星空无限传媒.
Benoit, who earned a master鈥檚 degree in history from 星空无限传媒 Lafayette this spring, submitted his winning historical research essay last fall as part of the Caffery competition. It is judged by a panel that includes members of the staff.
The Caffery Award is given yearly to an undergraduate or graduate student who conducts scholarly research using primary sources housed in Special Collections at Dupr茅 Library. Special Collections is home to Caffery鈥檚 papers and other mementos of his career.
Benoit, who also earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in history from the University in 2024, claimed this year鈥檚 Caffery Award for 鈥淎lexandre Declouet: A Study and Re-examination of Chauvinistic Heritage in Antebellum Louisiana, 1812-1860.鈥 He received a $500 prize for his winning essay.
In it, Benoit examines topics such as slavery, suffrage, the French Creole aristocracy and Creole identity, the American Civil War and Reconstruction. He filtered it all through the life of Declouet, a sugar planter and politician from St. Martin Parish who was born in 1812 and died in 1890.
As Benoit writes in his essay: 鈥淒eclouet was a product of his cultural heritage. His upbringing and career as a member of the French Creole Aristocracy resulted in his reluctance and negative attitude towards assimilation into the United States. As the country started to drift towards a Civil War, Declouet鈥檚 identity as both an isolationist Creole and sugar planter guided his decision-making throughout his career to the eventual secession of the South.鈥
A key source for Benoit鈥檚 project was the Declouet Family Papers, which are housed in Special Collections鈥 University Archives and Acadiana Manuscripts Collection.
Materials in the library鈥檚 Jefferson Caffery Louisiana Room, the Louisiana Collection, the Rare Books Collection, Ernest J. Gaines Center, the Cajun and Creole Music Collection and microforms can also be used for Caffery competition research.
The Caffery Award is provided by a fund established in 1967 by Ambassador and Mrs. Jefferson Caffery. A 1903 graduate of 星空无限传媒 Lafayette, Caffery served as U.S. ambassador to El Salvador, Columbia, Cuba, Brazil, France and Egypt.
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Photo caption: Connor Benoit (left) has won the 2026 Jefferson Caffery Research Award at 星空无限传媒 Lafayette. Benoit is pictured with Dr. Zack Stein, assistant dean of technical services at the Edith Garland Dupr茅 Library. It is judged by a panel that includes members of the Dupr茅 Library staff. Photo credit: Doug Dugas / 星空无限传媒