<p> Historic Preservation is a continuous movement. Preservationists are responsible for the expansion of the National Register of Historic Places, as well as the care of historic buildings already listed on the National Register. This thesis explores historic preservation in Lafayette, Louisiana. The thesis is a two-part process. First, the individually listed properties on the National Register were re-evaluated to ensure that their condition is current in the nomination. Secondly, historic preservation involves discovering potential new historic properties. This process involved surveying a historic neighborhood or property. For this thesis, the survey included the historic neighborhood known locally as Freetown. The process of re-evaluation led to the discovery that certain historic buildings were altered or moved, and others are endangered. The surveys revealed an intact historic neighborhood with a sense of community that could one day be a National Historic District.</p>

<p> This Public History thesis examines the role that historic cemeteries play in preservation in urban southeast Louisiana by looking at their place on the National Register of Historic Places, analyzing three case studies of past preservation efforts, and narrating the history of a historic African American cemetery and nominating it for the National Register of Historic Places. In Chapters One and Two, I focus on the 1960s and 1970s National Register and specific preservation efforts for historic cemeteries. In Chapter Three I argue that historic cemeteries are important to local history, specifically the importance of Sweet Olive to the African American history of Baton Rouge, and I submitted a nomination for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. I collected newspapers, land records, and preservationist's papers to present a history of cemetery preservation in southeast Louisiana and prepared the nomination to be involved in its future.</p>