��ɬֱ��

The desire to illuminate the work of a forgotten activist inspired this year's Jefferson Caffery Award winner, Caroline Dugan. Her paper, "Dr. Jean 'Shewolf' Boudreaux: Re-Archiving Second-Wave Feminism in ��ɬֱ��, Louisiana," examines Boudreaux's contribution to the enactment of the Equal Pay Initiative at the University of Southwestern Louisiana — now the University of Louisiana at ��ɬֱ�� — during the 1970s.

was established in 1967 by Caffery and his wife, Gertrude. Caffery's 44-year career as an American diplomat spanned 12 countries, but before he was a renowned ambassador, he was among the first class to enroll at Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute — now UL ��ɬֱ�� — in 1901.

"The main idea of the award is to recognize scholarly research," said Dr. Zachary Stein, collections committee chair. Stein is also an associate professor and the library’s assistant dean of technical services.  "Education in general was very important to Caffery,” Stein added.

Edith Garland Dupré Library Special Collections gives students and the public access to archives and rare books that are essential to research initiatives. The Jefferson Caffery Award grants student recipients $500 in recognition for their in-depth use of archived materials and comprehensive bibliographies.

Dugan's paper focuses on topics close to her heart: history and feminism. After receiving a bachelor's degree in political science from LSU, Dugan graduated in May with a master's degree in history from UL ��ɬֱ��.

"I didn't choose history — it chose me," Dugan said. "I started doing research on second-wave feminism, and I found an entry on the Equal Pay Initiative here. I recognized four out of five of the names who were behind the movement.”

Dugan discovered UL ��ɬֱ�� faculty members Doris Bentley, Della Bonnette, Sarah Brabant and Judith Gentry — four women who worked alongside Boudreaux to promote gender equality on campus — through historian Janet Allured's book Remapping Second-Wave Feminism.

Allured briefly mentions Boudreaux but goes into more detail about each of the other women’s rights advocates. Wondering why Boudreaux was left out of the narrative, Dugan researched further.

What she discovered was a lesbian, pantsuit-wearing former UL ��ɬֱ�� professor with a deep passion for inclusivity. At a time when feminism was gaining popularity among straight, white women, Boudreaux made sure that women of color and gay women were also part of the fight.

Boudreaux was born in New Orleans in 1932. She later moved to ��ɬֱ�� to attend Southwestern Louisiana Institute, now UL ��ɬֱ��.

She majored in psychology to try to understand her attraction to women. Her real passion was in pathology and audiology, so she pursued those disciplines and earned her master’s and doctoral degrees.

In 1969, USL offered Boudreaux a full professorship in the Department of Communicative Disorders. She quickly befriended Bonnette, a computer science professor, Brabant, a sociology professor, Gentry, a history professor, and Bentley, a secretarial sciences professor.

The five women, or the "five-finger group" — the nickname that Boudreaux gave them — bonded over their desire to be paid equally to their male counterparts. They promoted their ideals by discussing salaries in hopes that other female faculty members would realize they were underpaid.

The group compiled the salaries of everyone at the University and presented them to then-President Ray P. Authement, highlighting the discrepancies between women and men. They also contacted the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

After a visit from the EEOC to the President's Office, the equal pay findings were finalized in 1978. Boudreaux and her group successfully changed the trajectory of employment for women at UL ��ɬֱ��.

Boudreaux died in 2020. Dugan’s paper pays a necessary homage to an important women’s rights activist. "Bringing her to light was very important to me,” Dugan said. “She’s a pillar for gay people in this area.”

Photo Credit: Paul Kieu / University of Louisiana at ��ɬֱ��