BILL SMITH, THE DAILY IBERIAN

The Acadian Memorial Foundation Inc. held a birthday celebration for a poet who has left a mark in St. Martinville, and throughout the world.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born Feb. 27, 1807, and the City of St. Martinville commemorated the 200th birthday under the Evangeline Oak on Tuesday. Brenda Trahan, curator director of the Acadian Museum, oversaw the celebration.

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To help commemorate the event the St. Martinville Rotary Club donated a plaque in Longfellow's memory that will be affixed to the pillar holding the poet's bust, which the Rotary Club also donated. The bust, on display in the Evangeline Oak Park, was commissioned by the St. Martinville Rotary Club by local artist Fred DeCourt Jr.

Rotary Club president Mike Huval was on hand to unveil the plaques during the celebration. He read from the first plaque which was inscribed with Longfellow's year of birth in 1807 and his death in 1882. Also inscribed were the words Dr. Lane Longfellow spoke during the dedication and unveiling of the bust, which describe Longfellow as "a poet of the people and of great social conscience.'

The second plaque contains an inscription of a portion of the poem "Evangeline," which mentions St. Martin.

Trinity Catholic Upper Campus students and French Immersion from Cecilia High School students participated in the program by reading from selected Longfellow works in both English and French. Selections included "A Slave's Dream,} "Song for Hiawatha" and "Evangeline.