2-day culture and history symposium set for Sept. 15
Aug 25 2000 12:00AM By By DORI CLAYTOR Daily Star Staff Writer
Hodding Carter III will speak Sept. 15 as part of a two-day culture and
history symposium at the university his father helped open 75 years and one
day earlier.
Carter, president and chief executive officer of John S. and James I. Knight
Foundation, was press secretary to President Jimmy Carter. His family has
roots in Hammond where his father, Pultizer Prize-winning journalist Hodding
Carter II, ran a daily newspaper in the early 1930s.
Carter's speech titled "Reflections on a Rooted Life," the symposium and a
Sept. 14 communitywide celebration party are part of Southeastern Louisiana
University's 75th anniversary observance.
The celebration party, which University President Sally Clausen described as
a "cross between an Olympic opening ceremony and a high-paced Super Bowl
half-time show" will be held Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. in the University Center. The
event will include music and demonstrations.
The symposium, "Louisiana's Florida Parishes: Continuity and Change,
1699-2000," will feature regional, national and international scholars,
exhibits, folklife demonstrations and musical performances including the
Piney Woods Opry Roadshow, which will begin that night at 6 p.m.
"Despite a rich cultural heritage, only a few historians and academics have
studied the region," said Sam Hyde, director of SLU's Center for Southeast
Louisiana Studies, the symposium host. "This will be the first-ever gathering
that focuses scholarly attention on southeastern Louisiana's curious and
colorful history."
When Southeastern opened its doors as a junior college Sept. 14, 1925, 40
students attended classes on the upper floor of Hammond High School. Now,
more than 15,000 students are enrolled in classes on a growing a campus on
the north side of the city.