Governor Edwards tours new exhibit at Southeastern
Thursday, September 29, 2022
by: Tonya Lowentritt 
GOVERNOR ATTENDS SYMPOSIUM AT SOUTHEASTERN – Governor John Bel Edwards, center, recently attended a symposium at Southeastern Louisiana University called “Louisiana in Continuity and Change: Challenges Past and Present Confronting the Bayou State.” During his visit, he toured a newly created exhibit in the Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies that highlights the themes of the symposium. Pictured with Edwards, from left, are Southeastern students that helped create the exhibit Max Hopcraft, Lauren Guillory, Brooklyn Sherrod, and Ashley Tarleton.
HAMMOND – During his visit to Southeastern Louisiana University as a participant
in the symposium “Louisiana in Continuity and Change: Challenges Past and Present
Confronting the Bayou State,” Governor John Bel Edwards toured the newly created student
exhibit in the Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies. The exhibit is designed to
highlight themes of the symposium, which focused on historical problems that prove
acute in the Bayou State.
Center Director and Leon Ford Endowed Chair Professor Sam Hyde said, “We basically
told our student workers to create an exhibit that conforms to the mission of the
symposium and cut them loose. With the exception of a little editing, they did it
all themselves.”
The exhibit includes rare documents, artifacts, and photos that highlight critical
issues confronting Louisiana from the colonial period to the present.
“The most rewarding part of constructing the exhibit was witnessing our ideas
come to life,” said Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies Graduate Research Assistant
Brooklyn Sherrod. “Yet it was not a simple task.”
“One of the biggest challenges was narrowing our focus,” added student worker
Max Hopcraft. “There are so many colorful stories included in the holdings of the
center, that we struggled to select which were the most crucial to our state.”
The exhibit, along with a forthcoming book highlighting the proceedings, reveal
the purpose of the symposium, which was designed to draw attention to issues that
have diminished the quality of life in Louisiana, while also suggesting means to overcome
such challenges, Hyde explained.
The exhibit will remain open for public viewing through March 2023.
For more information on the symposium and exhibit, contact the center at 985-549-2151
or email selahistory@southeastern.edu.
