April 29, 2025
By Dr. James MacDonald
NATCHITOCHES — History faculty from Northwestern State University’s School of Social Sciences and Applied Programs are showcasing their active research agendas and representing NSU in a series of conferences and academic meetings during the spring semester.
In early February Dr. Kent Peacock participated in the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities’ day-long workshop on teaching the Reconstruction Era of United States history, a period he covers in multiple courses he teaches. Later that month Peacock and Dr. Greg Granger participated in judging the regional National History Day competition held at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and Northwest Louisiana History Museum. They had the pleasure of evaluating research papers and poster presentations by outstanding middle and high school students who demonstrated great curiosity about the past and engagement in the critical skills of identifying and analyzing reputable primary sources to learn about human experiences in the past.
Peacock also serves as director of Northwestern State University’s Creole Heritage Center. This March, the Center facilitated a meeting of representatives from several Louisiana Creole organizations with the leadership of La Cité internationale de la langue française, a recent endeavor of the French government dedicated to the global promotion and education of French and French-related languages and cultures, including Louisiana Creole. Additionally, Peacock and representatives of the Center actively promoted NSU and highlighted the enduring cultural significance of Louisiana Creoles through their participation in Louisiana C.R.E.O.L.E., Inc.’s Zydeco Music and Creole Heritage Awards Ceremony in Lafayette, the Bar-B-Que Contest at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and the Jeanerette Creole Fest.
Drs. Granger, Charles Pellegrin, James MacDonald and Chris Gilson attended the 2025 Louisiana Political Science Association Meeting in Lake Charles in February. Granger commented on a session entitled “Bridging Gaps and Building Futures: Foster Care Training in the Delta Regional Authority States.” Pellegrin, MacDonald and Gilson presented research papers in a panel entitled “Floods, Fluoride and Factories: Contesting Authority in Louisiana’s Political Landscape.” The contributions from the NSU faculty covered a wide range of topics including the 1849 Red River flood, the fluoridation debate in Louisiana during the 1950s and 1960s and the role of Indian Agent John Sibley in early Louisiana.
In March, Pellegrin, who is also the editor of Southern Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of the South, attended the annual meeting of the Louisiana Historical Association as well as the Association’s board meeting in Baton Rouge. Pellegrin served as president of the LHA from 2022-2023.
In March, Pellegrin and MacDonald were on the program at the prestigious Society for Military History Meeting in Mobile, Alabama. Pellegrin chaired and commented the session “Politics, Diplomacy, and Military Strategy in the Twentieth Century.” MacDonald was part of a session entitled “Indigenous Societies and War” where he presented research on Native American alliances in his paper “Caught Between Two Fires: The Catawba Choose Sides in the American Revolution.”
Earlier this month, MacDonald, Gilson and Peacock represented NSU at the Gayerre History Club Conference at the R.W. Norton Art Gallery in Shreveport.
Also in April, Pellegrin, MacDonald and Gilson attended the spring meeting of the North Louisiana Historical Association in Mansfield. The organization gathered and toured the Mansfield Female College Museum, which opened in 1855 and was the first institution of its kind west of the Mississippi River.
Gilson, who serves as the coordinator of the Bachelor of Arts in History program, also participated in the Popular Culture Association 2025 National Meeting in New Orleans this month. Gilson’s paper was titled “Tempest and Terror: Monsters in the History and Literature of Meteorology.”
Going forward, members of the faculty will submit proposals to the Louisiana Studies Conference on the NSU campus, the East Texas Historical Association in Nacogdoches, Texas, the Gulf South History & Humanities Conference in New Orleans and the 2026 Louisiana Historical Association meeting in Lafayette.
Pictured: Northwestern State’s history faculty are, from left, Dr. Greg Granger, Dr. Charles Pellegrin, Dr. James MacDonald, Dr. Chris Gilson and Dr. Kent Peacock.
