Allen Ellender — The Senator from the Bayou

Allen Ellender was born in Montegut, Terrebonne Parish, the son of a sugarcane farmer. He served in the U.S. Senate from Louisiana for 35 years, from 1937 to 1972, becoming one of the most powerful figures in American agricultural policy. He shaped the food stamp program into what it became. He was also a committed segregationist who signed the Southern Manifesto and filibustered civil rights legislation. The Southdown Museum exhibit presents both legacies with the complexity they demand. Terrebonne produced him. The parish still reckons with what that means.