Who we are is largely determined by who we were. As products of our past, we cannot understand where we are unless we understand where we have been.

New Iberia has a past that must be preserved.

This will not happen automatically but takes committed effort. The forces of rapid change undermine the preservation of our history and traditions.

Fortunately, New Iberia has several organizations devoted to this preservation task that need our support.

The Bayou Teche Museum is uniquely positioned to tell the story of New Iberia and of the Teche region—history, culture, economy.

No other group can do this. From its start as an idea, the Museum has become a wonderful reality—a first-class museum and important educational force in the community.

I think it is now poised to expand its activities to the whole Teche region. This is exciting.

This is important.

This is needed.

And, this is difficult.

African Americans as well as all of us are still confronted by slavery’s effect. Slavery’s effect is part of our history and cannot be forgotten—it is too important to forget.

The area’s African American history is rich, varied and complex and for too long has been forgotten or untold. The Iberia African American Historical Society is dedicated to researching, documenting and telling the whole story of African Americans in the area from slavery to the present. African American history is our history; is an integral part of who we are no matter what our color.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, culture is “an overarching term that means the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively.”

The Iberia Cultural Resources Association performs the critical and difficult role of defining, interpreting and informing about New Iberia’s rich and diverse culture. The Iberia Cultural Resources Association has done a magnificent job in publicly presenting our diverse culture.

For example, in April, the Teche Literary Festival will take place which is another excellent example of the outstanding work done by the Cultural Association. All should attend.

The Shadows was a fixture in New Iberia when I was a boy. Today the Shadows is not just preserving an important structural component of American as well as local history but is an integral part of the community.

I was impressed during my recent visit home by how deeply the Shadows is involved in the community.

The Shadow’s story is inseparably linked to our history, culture, and economy. The Shadows has become a catalyst by providing a forum for the full exposition of our culture and history.

When I visited home this past October, I was struck by the vitality of the work these organizations are doing. There are others, such as IPAL, that play an important role but I don’t have space to mention them all.

We have a responsibility, if we value our past and present as we should, to support these organizations and to participate in the life of the community.

We make New Iberia culturally/historically alive.

DR. JOHN W. RAY, a New Iberia native, is a professor emeritus of political science and public policy at Montana Technological University, Butte, Montana. He was born in New Iberia, graduated from Catholic High School in 1966 and still regularly visits home to see friends and family.