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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=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/>

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=[[Louisiana State University]] Press|accessdate=October 26, 2019}}</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/>​

Eakin also worked as an archivist for the Louisiana State Archives and Records Service in Baton Rouge. With her sister, Manie L. Culbertson, Eakin published ''Louisiana: The Land and Its People,'' (1986), a textbook used in junior high classes of Louisiana history.<ref name=clamar/> Another of her works is ''Avoyelles Parish: Crossroads of Louisiana''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/sue-eakin|title=Sue Eakin: Barnes & Noble|publisher=Barnesandnoble.com|accessdate=October 26, 2019}}</ref>  As an educator and a researcher, Eakin was responsible for conducting, or sending students into the field to conduct more than four hundred oral history interviews documenting various aspects of Louisiana history, culture and folklife. These recorded audio interivcews are now archived at the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History at the [[University of Kentucky]] in Lexington,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kentuckyoralhistory.org./collections/sue-eakin-louisiana-oral-history-collection|title=Sue Eakin Louisiana Oral History Collection|publisher=Kentuckyoralhistory.org|accessdate=October 26, 2009; material may be unavailable}}</ref>​ named for Louie Broady Nunn (1924-2004), the Kentucky [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[governor]] from 1967 to 1971.

Eakin also worked as an archivist for the Louisiana State Archives and Records Service in Baton Rouge. With her sister, Manie L. Culbertson, Eakin published ''Louisiana: The Land and Its People,'' (1986), a textbook used in junior high classes of Louisiana history.<ref name=clamar/> Another of her works is ''Avoyelles Parish: Crossroads of Louisiana''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/sue-eakin|title=Sue Eakin: Barnes & Noble|publisher=Barnesandnoble.com|accessdate=October 26, 2019}}</ref>  As an educator and a researcher, Eakin was responsible for conducting, or sending students into the field to conduct more than four hundred oral history interviews documenting various aspects of Louisiana history, culture and folklife. These recorded audio interivcews are now archived at the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History at the [[University of Kentucky]] in Lexington,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kentuckyoralhistory.org./collections/sue-eakin-louisiana-oral-history-collection|title=Sue Eakin Louisiana Oral History Collection|publisher=Kentuckyoralhistory.org|accessdate=October 26, 2009; material may be unavailable}}</ref>​ named for Louie Broady Nunn (1924-2004), the Kentucky [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[governor]] from 1967 to 1971.

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==Legacy and honors==

==Legacy and honors==

Eakin received numerous research grants, awards, and honors for her work, including the following:​

Eakin received numerous research grants, awards, and honors for her work, including the following:​