Marking A Century In Acadiana

                As the twentieth century reached 100 years old, so did Edna Jean Batiste Frederick. The lively centenarian celebrated her landmark birthday in the company of family and friends at her hometown church on December 31, 1999.

                In her native Creole French, Mrs. Frederick talks about spending tout la vie (all her life) in St. Martin Parish, where her family grew cotton, potatoes, peppers and sugar cane. South Louisiana has changed in countless ways over the course of her lifetime. Work used to be a lot harder, she says. The farmers cut sugar cane with knives and loaded it by hand. They walked the rows picking cotton. Each day, Mrs. Frederick cooked for 20 workers.

                Today, they don’t touch the cotton and cane, she says. Everything is done with tractors and machines. Just three workers can take care of all of the sugar cane.

                Machines have changed more than farming. First bikes, then cars made transportation easier. As a young woman, Mrs. Frederick walked three miles to do laundry on a washboard. Today, she washes clothes in her home. Still self-sufficient, she also does her own housekeeping, ironing and cooking. “Oh, she gets around,” says her daughter, Myrtle Singleton.

                Born December 31, 1899, Edna Frederick never went to school. She married twice and had six children. Along with her relatives, the entire community around her home in Cecilia has become her extended family. Friends and neighbors packed the church to help her celebrate her 100^th birthday. Technology may have changed, but Mrs. Frederick will tell you that the relationships within the close-knit community haven’t. “C’est toujours même pour moi,” she says. “It’s always the same for me.

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