Southeastern Louisiana University

Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies publishes new regional history journal

Contact: Christina Chapple

8/26/08

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     “Southeastern Louisiana, as we at the center have been noting for years, has endured the most curious pattern of development in Louisiana, if not the entire Gulf South,” said Samuel C. Hyde Jr., director of the center and Southeastern’s Ford Family Chair in Regional Studies. “The new journal will reveal the peculiar components of our identity that make our home region such a special place to live.” 

     Hyde, who is the journal’s managing editor, said it will provide opportunities for scholars to publish articles highlighting regional history and culture and for the general public “to publish and enjoy reading about topics dear to their own hearts.” He said the journal is being published at the request of center patrons and regional history enthusiasts, who missed two discontinued center publications, Southeast Louisiana Historical Papers and Regional Dimensions.

     “Those publications were regrettably discontinued in favor of the films, television programs, books and other projects the center now produces,” Hyde said, “but many patrons continued to express interest in a regional publication.”

     Hyde said the inaugural edition includes a scholarly article by King Robinson, a recent graduate of Southeastern’s master’s degree program in history, on Spanish Governor Bernardo de Galvez’s military operations to “liberate” the Florida Parishes from British control; the late Judge Leon Ford’s reflections on Hammond’s post-Hurricane Betsy days as the southern terminus of the Illinois Central Railroad, and “a rather spooky short story, based on historical fact, detailing the strange happenings on a road in northern Tangipahoa Parish” by Roseland resident Emma Davoll.

     The new publication will be the official journal of the Southeast Louisiana Historical Association and will be sent to all dues-paying members along with the center’s annual newsletter, The Centerpiece. SELAHA dues are $20 annually. Individual copies of each edition can also be purchased through the center for $10, Hyde said. 

     “We encourage submissions from scholars as well as the general public,” said Associate Editor Keith Finley, assistant director of the center and a member of Southeastern’s history faculty. “The journal staff will be happy to consider submissions highlighting all periods of history and topics of cultural interest in southeast Louisiana and the surrounding regions of southwestern Mississippi.” Finley said submitted articles will undergo a peer review to ensure accuracy. 

     To join SELAHA, purchase individual copies or for information on submissions, contact the center at 985-549-2151 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., weekdays. The center is located on the second floor of Southeastern’s Sims Memorial Library