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After completing her graduate degrees, Eakin began a 25-year teaching career at Louisiana State University at Alexandria. It had been established in 1960 as a junior college, and later developed as a four-year institution. In an interview with ''The Town Talk,''  Patsy K. Barber, an LSUA colleague, recalled Eakin as "a master teacher [who] researched, she knew her topic and knew how to place her topic into the larger setting. She could hold you spellbound. The creative ideas just spilled out."<ref name=adtt/> Barber and Eakin collaborated on several books about the history of Rapides Parish and Lecompte.<ref name=adtt/>​

After completing her graduate degrees, Eakin began a 25-year teaching career at Louisiana State University at Alexandria. It had been established in 1960 as a junior college, and later developed as a four-year institution. In an interview with ''The Town Talk,''  Patsy K. Barber, an LSUA colleague, recalled Eakin as "a master teacher [who] researched, she knew her topic and knew how to place her topic into the larger setting. She could hold you spellbound. The creative ideas just spilled out."<ref name=adtt/> Barber and Eakin collaborated on several books about the history of Rapides Parish and Lecompte.<ref name=adtt/>​

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Eakin's best-known work is an annotated version of an 1853 slave narrative by Solomon Northup: ''Twelve Years a Slave—And Plantation Life in the Antebellum South.'' She co-edited the work with historian Joseph Logsdon;<ref name="Revival">{{cite web|url=http://lsupress.org/books/detail/twelve-years-a-slave/ |title='12 Years a Slave' prompts effort to recognize work of UNO historian in reviving tale |publisher=http://www.nola.com |date= |accessdate=2013-09-27}}</ref> together they annotated the account, retracing Northrup's journey and adding maps and other documentation. Their edition of ''Twelve Year a Slave'' was published in 1968 by LSU Press.<ref name="LSU Press">{{cite web|url=http://lsupress.org/books/detail/twelve-years-a-slave/ |title=Twelve Years A Slave by Solomon Northup |publisher=http://lsupress.org/ |date= |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> Northup was a free blackfrom Saratoga, [[New York]], who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841, and transported from [[Washington, D.C.]], to Louisiana.<ref name=b&n12yrs>{{cite web|url=http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/twelve-years-a-slave-solomon-northup/1100059752?ean=9780807151457|title=Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup: 9780807151457 NOOK Book (eBook) Barnes & Noble|publisher=Barnesandnoble.com llc|accessdate=October 26, 2019}}</ref> The book is considered one of the best firsthand accounts of slave life.<ref name=adtt/>

Eakin's best-known work is an annotated version of an 1853 slave narrative by Solomon Northup: ''Twelve Years a Slave—And Plantation Life in the Antebellum South.'' She co-edited the work with historian Joseph Logsdon;<ref name="Revival">{{cite web|url=http://lsupress.org/books/detail/twelve-years-a-slave/ |title='12 Years a Slave' prompts effort to recognize work of UNO historian in reviving tale|publisher=http://www.nola.com|date=|accessdate=October 26, 2019}}</ref> together they annotated the account, retracing Northrup's journey and adding maps and other documentation. Their edition of ''Twelve Year a Slave'' was published in 1968 by LSU Press.<ref name="LSU Press">{{cite web|url=http://lsupress.org/books/detail/twelve-years-a-slave/ |title=Twelve Years A Slave by Solomon Northup |publisher=http://lsupress.org/ |date= |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> Northup was a free blackfrom Saratoga, [[New York]], who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841, and transported from [[Washington, D.C.]], to Louisiana.<ref name=b&n12yrs>{{cite web|url=http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/twelve-years-a-slave-solomon-northup/1100059752?ean=9780807151457|title=Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup: 9780807151457 NOOK Book (eBook) Barnes & Noble|publisher=Barnesandnoble.com llc|accessdate=October 26, 2019}}</ref> The book is considered one of the best firsthand accounts of slave life.<ref name=adtt/>

In 2013, the actor Lou Gossett, Jr., dedicated his 2013 audiobook performance of ''Twelve Years a Slave'' to Eakin. In 2014, Frank William Eakin (born c. 1961) of The Woodlands, [[Texas]],  said of his mother's life's work and the Oscar best picture: "It feels so good to have this validation, not just for Mom, but for the people of Louisiana."<ref name=oscarwinner/> Interviewed by the ''The Alexandria Town Talk'', Elizabeth Hood "Liz" Brazelton (born c. 1950) of Alexandria, a former student of Sue Eakin's, noted that without Eakin ''Twelve Years a Slave'' "would have been lost to the world ... I was hoping that [McQueen] would recognize Dr. Eakin because I felt that there had been a little lack of recognition. It was really gratifying."<ref name=oscarwinner/>​

In 2013, the actor Lou Gossett, Jr., dedicated his 2013 audiobook performance of ''Twelve Years a Slave'' to Eakin. In 2014, Frank William Eakin (born c. 1961) of The Woodlands, [[Texas]],  said of his mother's life's work and the Oscar best picture: "It feels so good to have this validation, not just for Mom, but for the people of Louisiana."<ref name=oscarwinner/> Interviewed by the ''The Alexandria Town Talk'', Elizabeth Hood "Liz" Brazelton (born c. 1950) of Alexandria, a former student of Sue Eakin's, noted that without Eakin ''Twelve Years a Slave'' "would have been lost to the world ... I was hoping that [McQueen] would recognize Dr. Eakin because I felt that there had been a little lack of recognition. It was really gratifying."<ref name=oscarwinner/>​