Sugar Enterprise: Modernization
of M. A. Patout & Son
How sweet it is to be the nation’s oldest family-owned and operated raw sugar maker. With two centuries in business, M. A. Patout & Son stands as a quintessential American success story. Founded in Patoutville, Louisiana, in the early 19th century, this company has survived for seven generations, and counting. It is a remarkable legacy that represents a cornerstone of one of Louisiana’s most important and resilient industries: sugar cane. Over the last half century, M. A. Patout has grown into a regional economic powerhouse. The impressive growth and innovation over the last several decades transformed the once modestly-sized company into a modern sugar enterprise. Historian Jason Theriot explores the last fifty years of this important Louisiana-based company and pays tribute to the people who built it. This company history book will be published by UL Press and released in 2025.
Union, Justice, Confidence: Origins of the LA State Motto
For more than two centuries, the Louisiana State Motto—Union, Justice, Confidence—has appeared on all official state government documents and symbols, including the State Flag and State Seal. These words are prominently displayed across the front of the towering State Capitol building and below the iconic mother Pelican feeding her young. But do these words have historical meaning and is the motto relevant today? Historian Jason Theriot has set out to undercover and document the origins of the state motto. This journey begins with William C. C. Claiborne, Louisiana’s first territorial governor in 1804, and follows his political career through his letters up to and beyond statehood. As a prodigy of Thomas Jefferson, Claiborne believed strongly in the ideals of American republicanism, self-government, and civic virtues. Claiborne understood that government power can only be derived from the consent of the governed; yet codified in that covenant, he believed, was the foundation for building a prosperous society. “You may assure the Citizens [mainly the local “creole inhabitants” of Louisiana] . . . that their liberty, property, and religion will be protected; their Commerce and agriculture promoted, and the Arts and Science in Louisiana particularly cherished,” he wrote in 1804 concerning the American system of government, “which I do not hesitate to say is the best upon Earth.” As the Father of the Pelican State, Claiborne’s ideals and leadership still ring true today.
Motto Origin Story promo
Heart of Louisiana” State Motto
Mapping the Basin
Historians Jason Theriot and Jacob Gautreaux have completed a unique research project that documents culturally important places in the Atchafalaya Basin lost to time. With a generous grant from the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area, the “Mapping the Basin” StoryMap project integrates images, maps, text, and video interview clips for an first-of-its kind exploration into the culture and livelihoods of the people of the Basin. By “Mapping the Basin,” the project intends to preserve the location and stories of these lost communities and the people who just two generations ago called the Basin home. The project includes interviews with Harold Schoeffler, Jim Delahoussaye, Harry Lange, and Cliff Legrange, in addition to some rare photographs from the Greg Guirard collection.
A History of Spring Branch, Texas (1850-1950)
Settled by German immigrants in 1848, the Spring Branch community along the Upper Buffalo Bayou in Harris County, Texas, has a storied past. For a hundred years, this farming community—roughly 10 miles west of Houston--prospered and maintained its unique German-American culture and rural society along the banks of the bayous in Harris County. The community is home to the oldest church in the county. Today, very little remains of this once-bustling agricultural community. Since 1950, the neighborhood has been transformed into a suburban landscape with shopping strips, busy streets, and modern homes. The Spring Branch Historical and Heritage Foundation has commissioned historian Jason Theriot to research and document the story of the families and community of Spring Branch.
Gene Campbell Life Story Video Series
History of the Oyster Bayou Hunting Club
Introducing the Gene Campbell Life Story Video series. Gene is a legendary waterfowl outfitter, owner and operator of the Oyster Bayou Hunting Club in Anahuac, Texas, just an hour drive east of Houston. Historian Jason Theriot documents Gene's amazing story over several hunting seasons in this video biography series. This is a story of family and friendships and generational relationships with hunters who have been a part of this 50-year history of one of the primo outfitters on the Texas Gulf Coast. Follow Gene and his team of professional hunting guides as they take us on a journey through the coastal prairies and marshes of southeast Texas for a hunting experience of a lifetime. The traditions run deep in this hunting club. Gene has dedicated his entire career to not only entertaining customers at his lodge and in the duck blind, but he has also maintained the native vegetation and waterfowl habitat through seed propagation and soil/water management. In doing so, Gene and his team have preserved the rich habitat that first attracted hunters to the famous Barrow Ranch, run by Joe Lagow, nearly a century ago. That legacy lives on through the Oyster Bayou Hunting Club.
History of Sun Oil Gulf Coast Division
This new company history tells the story of Sun Oil Co.'s Gulf Coast Division and the people who led it from the 1950s to the 1990s. This story follows the career of Jim McCormick, a geologist from Rhode Island, who joined Sun's geophysical group in Beaumont, TX in 1953. He led a group of innovative oil men throughout the 1960s and '70s into the unchartered waters of the offshore Gulf of Mexico. Sun Oil, which had a long E&P history along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast, was a pioneering firm in the offshore industry. McCormick climbed the ladder and become company president in the 1980s, leading the newly created Oryx Energy in the deepwater GOM.
Frenchie: The Story of the French-Speaking Cajuns of World War II
Following nearly 25 years of research, Jason Theriot’s new book will document the role of the French-speaking Cajuns of World War II. With their bilingual skills, these young Cajuns from south Louisiana served as translators and interpreters, and proved to be an invaluable asset to the military overseas. Their wartime experiences forged a renewed since of pride in their culture and heritage. Click here to read the article "Cajun 'Frenchies' helped win the war" in the Baton Rouge Advocate, Nov. 2019. For a related story in the Daily Iberian from Aug. 2019, click here. David McNamara featured a story on the "Frenchie Cajuns" in his Feb. 2020 "Heart of Louisiana" series on Fox 8 WVUE in New Orleans. Click here to see the clip. Below are video presentations about the “Frenchie” book project, including the full interview with Jason Theriot and Dave McNamara at the National World War II Museum's new Hilliard Research Library.
Click here to listen to the Frenchie Podcast.
Click Here to Watch the Replay of the Virtual Presentation “Frenchie” presented by the Historic New Orleans Collection (Jan. 2021)
Click here for a Newspaper Interview “Calling All Frenchies,”
Click here for the Frenchie Podcast Review in Country Roads Magazine (2021).
Click Here to read an article on the Frenchies from Military.com
Click here to watch the Cajun-Acadian WWII Commemoration at the WWII Museum
Click here to download the list of the Kaplan Highschool WWII Oral History Project
Oilfield Energy Center Hall of Fame Interviews
The Oilfield Energy Center (OEC), formerly the Offshore Energy Center, recognizes the pioneering achievements of those men and women who revolutionized the oil and gas industry, particularly in the development of offshore technologies. Since 1998, the OEC has inducted more than 150 of these individuals into its Hall of Fame. For the last several years, Jason Theriot has been conducting oral history interviews with these pioneers. He is currently working with the OEC to digitize its valuable collection of video interviews and to make these stories available to a broader audience. Below are video vignettes from the Offshore Pioneer interviews: Larry Baker, Sr., Alden "Doc" LaBorde, Joe Foster, Paul "Red" Adair, Griff Lee, Dana Larsen, Bruce Collipp, Don Vardeman, Robert Palmer...and more to come...
Click here for more on the OEC's Hall of Fame. Several of these pioneers were involved in designing, constructing, launching, and erecting some of the largest offshore platforms ever built. The shipyards and fabrication centers in south Louisiana produced the lion's share of these structures and vessels for the offshore industry. Click here to read a historical essay on the history of the "fab yards" and shipyards near Morgan City, LA. The Bayou Teche region is also home to the pioneer shipbuilders of aluminum crewboats. Norman McCall, considered by many to be THE pioneer of the aluminum crewboat designs, has a legacy in this part of Cajun Country. For an interview with Norman McCall and Jason Theriot, click here. I also had the pleasure of interviewing the father of the Tension Leg Platform (TLP), Buck Curtis. Click here for my interview with Buck Curtis.