NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State University’s Cammie G. Henry Research Center will host a lecture on the development of selected Czech settlements in the South. Dr. Martin Nekola will discuss his ongoing research on the topic in a lecture titled “Czechs in the Southern USA: History, Places and Opportunities for Further Research.”
The lecture will take place at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10 on the third floor of Eugene P. Watson Memorial Library. The event is free and open to the public.
The history of Czech settlement in the southern United States is a long one. Generation of American Czechs were raised in the region, including many extraordinary personalities. Everywhere they settled, the Czechs demonstrated a strong desire to associate. They published periodicals and organized various cultural, social and educational events. The list of their accomplishments is extensive.
Nekola received his doctorate in political science from Charles University in Prague, Czechia. His research is focused on non-democratic regimes, the era of Communism, Czech communities abroad and the East-European anti-communist exiles in the United States during the Cold War. He has participated in the election observation missions organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). He is a member of the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) and the Czechoslovak Studies Association (CSA). He has published 20 books and more than three hundred articles. He is also the coordinator of The Czechoslovak Talks which preserves the life stories of Czechoslovaks from around the world.
The event is sponsored by the Louisiana Folklife Center and Universities. For more information, contact Head Archivist donna Baker at bakerd@nsula.edu.
