June 8 – July 31, 2026
Fun Fact Friday with Special Collections
Fri, 07/22/2022 - 10:05amToday we are celebrating the anniversary of the creation of CODOFIL.
CODOFIL is the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana. On July 20, 1968, Governor John McKeithen signed into law Act No. 409 that created CODOFIL. When this was signed into law there had been a big push against laws from the 1910s that forbade the speaking of French in schools. CODOFIL was created to help preserve the French language and culture that is the heritage of so many here in South Louisiana. When this law was signed, there were over a million French speakers in Louisiana. It is now estimated there are approximately 250,000 French speakers today.
Did you know that Special Collections is the repository of the CODOFIL records? We currently house their records from their creation through 2015. The collection consists mostly of office records, but there are also scrapbooks that contain photographs and newspaper clippings. Find more information on this collection.
View more photos on the Special Collections Facebook Page.
Fun Fact Friday is brought to you by Special Collections.