Jimmy Domengeaux | |
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| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromLouisiana's3rd district | |
| In office January 3, 1941 – April 15, 1944 | |
| Preceded by | Robert L. Mouton |
| In office November 7, 1944 – January 3, 1949 | |
| Succeeded by | Edwin E. Willis |
| Louisiana State Representative for Lafayette Parish | |
| In office 1940–1940 | |
| Preceded by | Two-member district: Rexford C. McCullough |
| Succeeded by | Rufus G. Smith |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1907-01-06)January 6, 1907 Lafayette, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | April 11, 1988(1988-04-11) (aged 81) Lafayette, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Resting place | St. John's Cemetery in Lafayette |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Eleanor St. Julien Domengeaux |
| Children | None |
| Alma mater | University of Louisiana at Lafayette Tulane University Law School |
| Occupation | Attorney |
James R. Domengeaux (January 6, 1907 – April 11, 1988) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge who served in theUnited States House of Representatives forLouisiana's 3rd congressional district from 1941 to 1949. He was a cultural activist ofCajun andLouisiana Creole descent who is best remembered for his efforts to preserve theFrench language in his native state.
Domengeaux was born on January 6, 1907, inLafayette, Louisiana to J. Rudolph Domengeaux and the former Marthe Mouton. He attended Mount Carmel Academy and CathedralHigh School in Lafayette. He obtained his undergraduate degree from theUniversity of Louisiana at Lafayette (then "Southwestern Louisiana Institute"). He also studied inNew Orleans at bothLoyola University andTulane University Law School, 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 theUnited States Supreme Court. He was senior member of Domengeaux and Wright (1931–1984). The firm maintained offices in Lafayette, New Orleans,Hammond inTangipahoa Parish, andOpelousas, the seat ofSt. Landry Parish in south central Louisiana.
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.
In 1968, Domengeaux accepted an appointment from Louisiana GovernorJohn McKeithen, his fellow Democrat, to preside over a new state-charted organization called theCouncil for the Development of French in Louisiana, 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 fromFrance,Belgium,Quebec, and otherFrench-speaking 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 punishedCajun children for speakingFrench in school — a practice that more than any other factor had dramatically reduced the number of native French speakers in the state.[1]
In 1976, Domengeaux arranged for the then French PresidentValéry Giscard d'Estaing to visit Lafayette.
In the 1980s, Domengeaux embraced a new teaching method: Frenchimmersion, 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 popularJustin Wilson, who was born not inAcadiana, but inTangipahoa Parish, one of the "Florida Parishes" east ofBaton Rouge, 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 ofCajun French.
For his efforts to save the French language in Louisiana, Domengeaux received an honorary doctorate fromLouisiana State University inBaton Rouge, the Order of theLegion of Honor from the French government, and theOrder of the Crown from Belgium, among numerous other citations. On November 11, 1986, coinciding withVeterans Day, Lafayette MayorWilliam Dudley Lastrapes and GovernorEdwin 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 theBourse James Domengeaux (James Domengeaux Scholarship).
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| Preceded by | U.S. Representative for Louisiana's 3rd congressional district 1941—1949 | Succeeded by |
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