HISTORICAL VOLUMES UNVEILED - Staff members of the Rayne Library officially unveiled the first of six volumes which include the historical newspaper columns written by local historian Charles Sidney Stutes now available at the library. On hand for the unveiling were, from left, Ted Landry, Director of Acadia Parish Libraries; Trudy Ronkartz, Rayne Librarian; Charles Sidney Stutes, and Rayne Library personnel Connie Racca and Beth Goins. (Acadian-Tribune Photo by Lisa Soileaux)
Stutes’ historical articles now preserved at Rayne Library
RAYNE - Culminating three years of work, research and indexing, the staff at the Rayne Library has unveiled six volumes of historical articles written by Charles Sidney Stutes.
More than 400 articles written by the local historian and published in the Rayne Acadian-Tribune and the former Rayne Independent are now available at the library for the public’s use.
The six volumes include eight years of columns completed by Stutes (2009 - 2013 with The Independent and 2013 - present in The Rayne Acadian-Tribune).
“This project took us three years to complete,” state Rayne Librarian Trudy Ronkartz. “We thought Mr. Stutes’ columns and stories were important for Rayne since they capture the true history of our city.”
The weekly publication of “Lot 13, Block 1 - Plan of Rayne” details the history of Rayne, complete with old photos, historical information from newspaper accounts, and one-on-one conversations of Stutes with family members and the elder generations.
“We indexed the volumes by names, places and events,” Ronkartz continued. “In addition to providing our citizens the opportunity to locate information and events of the past, we also wanted to recognize Mr. Stutes for preserving the history of Rayne.”
The volumes are available at the Rayne Library during regular business hours.