NEWS RELEASE

Contact: David West (west@nsula.edu )
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466

3/27/2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES -Historian Kevin Fontenot will be the guest speaker at the annual spring banquet of Northwestern State University's Pi Chapter of Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society Thursday, April 6 at 6:30 p.m. at Merci Beaucoup Restaurant on Church Street in Natchitoches. Tickets are $20 each and the public is invited.

Fontenot, an adjunct instructor in the History Department of Tulane University, will give a talk, "Cajun Musician, Cajun Mystic: The Improbable Legacy of Moise Robin," discussing Robin, a musician who recorded some of the most important early Cajun records with Leo Soileau. After a brief recording career, Robin's life began to spin out of control, and he was eventually sent to Angola State Penitentiary for the murder of his wife. Following his release, Robin penned a bizarre religious tract titled, "The Golden Gate." He remained on the fringes of the Cajun music revival until his death.

A respected historian of country music, Fontenot has written articles including "Dear Ivan: Country Music Perspectives on the Soviet Union and the Cold War," "Henry C. Gilliland: Country Music's Confederate Grandfather," and the forthcoming "Sunshine Jimmie and Georgia Tom: Two Gospel Pioneers Reflect on their Blues Past." He has published articles in the Journal of Southern History, Louisiana History, and the Jazz Archivist.

He co-edited with Ryan Brasseaux the forthcoming Fiddles, Accordions, Two Steps, and Swing: A Cajun Music Reader (Center for Louisiana Studies, 2006). Fontenot is completing his dissertation, which is a study of Governor Jimmie Davis. He has spoken to a wide range of groups from the Louisiana Historical Association to the Romance Writers of America. Fontenot grew up in Oberlin, and now lives in New Orleans. During the recent exile due to Hurricane Katrina, he substitute taught at Oberlin High and Elementary schools.

Banquet tickets are available through members of Phi Alpha Theta and the History Club, as well as through faculty sponsor, Dr. Susan E. Dollar at (318) 357-6195 or email: dollars@nsula.edu. The deadline for tickets is April 3.

Phi Alpha Theta was founded at the University of Arkansas in 1921. Northwestern's Pi Chapter was formed in 1934. This semester, the society will be initiated three new members, Anthony D. Suarez of Bossier City, Justin Sims of Natchitoches and Mary J. Jeane of Leesville. The induction continues a seven-decade tradition of promoting scholarship and fellowship among students of history.

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