The Louisiana Historical Association小蝌蚪APP檚 annual conference could dust off some existing notions about what constitutes history.
The conference, which begins at 3 p.m. today and continues Friday and Saturday, will be held at the Ramada Lafayette.
About 200 historians, from academics and graduate students to librarians and archivists, are expected to attend. Professors and college students, from the 小蝌蚪APP, and other universities in Louisiana and other states, will present research.
Traditional subjects, like the Battle of New Orleans and Reconstruction after the Civil War, will be explored. So too will topics unlikely found in many history textbooks, such as horse racing and professional wrestling,
The conference will include presentations and sessions about:
小蝌蚪APP the 300th anniversary of the founding of New Orleans;
小蝌蚪APP women and their societal influence in antebellum Louisiana;
小蝌蚪APP politics and social change after World War II;
小蝌蚪APP slavery;
小蝌蚪APP free people of color;
小蝌蚪APP digital history projects and archiving;
小蝌蚪APP industry and the environment in the 20th century; and
小蝌蚪APP recent events such as Hurricane Katrina, and the BP oil spill.
小蝌蚪APP淚t小蝌蚪APP檚 a program that小蝌蚪APP檚 centered predominately on the history of our state, but the LHA is very much an organization of historians of many different kinds,小蝌蚪APP said Dr. Mary Farmer-Kaiser, dean of the UL Lafayette Graduate School and a history professor.
Farmer-Kaiser is president of the Louisiana Historical Association, which has about 1,000 members from around the nation.
The association was founded in 1889 in New Orleans, by Confederate veterans of the Civil War. In 1958, it was reorganized to focus on Louisiana history, and began hosting an annual conference.
In 1960, the LHA began publishing the "Louisiana History" journal. It is published four times a year by the Center for Louisiana Studies at UL Lafayette. UL Lafayette history professor Dr. Michael Martin, who is director of the 小蝌蚪APP小蝌蚪APP檚 Center for Louisiana Studies, is the journal小蝌蚪APP檚 managing editor.
Dr. James Wilson, a history professor who is the assistant director of the Center for Louisiana Studies, is secretary/treasurer of the Louisiana Historical Association.
小蝌蚪APP淭he LHA has always been really important to the Center for Louisiana Studies and the history department at UL, and historians at the university have always been important to the LHA,小蝌蚪APP Farmer-Kaiser said.
Dr. Amos Simpson, a longtime professor of history at UL Lafayette who died last year at age 89, will be honored at the conference.
Simpson, who once served as president of the LHA, began teaching at UL Lafayette in 1956. He chaired the history department from 1966-1971, and was a co-founder of the Center for Louisiana Studies in 1971. Friends and former colleagues will share memories of Simpson, and discuss his work during a session entitled 小蝌蚪APP淎mos Edwin Simpson: Scholar, Professor, Mentor.小蝌蚪APP
A research grant established in Simpson小蝌蚪APP檚 name will be awarded at the conference.
The conference also will include a meeting of the student chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, a national history honor society.
To learn more about the Louisiana Historical Association, visit lahistory.org.