This second edition of the Anthropological Study Series of the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism and the Louisiana Archaeological Survey and Antiquities Commission is dedicated to the late Margaret Elam Drew, a charter member of the Commission. Affectionately known by professional and amateur archaeologists as “Lady Margaret,” Mrs. Drew and her close friend, Mrs. Rita Krouse, were instrumental in fostering statewide governmental and private sector support for the protection of Louisiana’s archaeological resources.
Mrs. Drew was the wife of Representative Harmon R. Drew of Minden. Her interest in archaeology began in 1962, with her daughter’s curiosity about the location of Indian tribes in Northwest Louisiana. Mrs. Drew, a devoted history buff, and Mrs. Krouse enthusiastically began researching possible Indian sites.
The Drew-Krouse team contacted Dr. William Haag, the Louisiana State University professor later named as Louisiana’s first State Archaeologist, for advice. Their research marked the beginning of a fifteen-year partnership of field excursions, field training schools and dedicated efforts to enlighten the public on archaeology and its importance to everyone.
Webster Parish had no registered archaeological sites in 1962. Through the efforts of Mrs. Drew and Mrs. Krouse there are now twenty-nine such sites. Claiborne Parish had two registered sites; there now are twenty-five. Mmes. Drew and Krouse established seventeen sites in Bienville Parish alone.
In 1974, on Dr. Haag’s recommendation, I was honored to appoint Margaret Drew a charter member of the Louisiana Archaeological Survey and Antiquities Commission. Her appointment was but a token of her colleagues and my appreciation for her efforts to promote the establishment of the Antiquities Commission and her work to obtain public and private funds for archaeological site surveys.
The publication of this study recognizes and honors the late Margaret Drew. Her selfless and tireless dedication to the preservation of our archaeological resources will, through ages to come, be credited with helping preserve this precious part of Louisiana’s cultural heritage.
Cordially,
EDWIN EDWARDS
