Northwestern State University was well represented at the 68th annual meeting of the Louisiana Historical Association in Lafayette March 5–7. Dr. Charles Pellegrin, professor of history and director of the Southern Studies Institute, chaired a session featuring the work of his colleagues entitled “Staging the Past: History, Memory, and Performance in Louisiana.”
In the session, Dr. Kent Peacock, assistant professor of history and director of NSU’s Creole Heritage Center, presented research on opera houses and civic pride in Natchitoches during the early 20th century. Dr. James MacDonald, professor of history, contributed part of his ongoing research on St. Denis in fiction with a paper on Ruth Cross’s 1936 novel Soldier of Good Fortune. Dr. Chris Gilson, associate professor of history, spoke on the 5-year run of Louisiana Cavalier, an outdoor play performed in Natchitoches during the summer months.
Laura Lyons McLemore, curator of the Northwest Louisiana Archives and Special Collections at LSU–Shreveport, who provided insightful commentary for the presenters.
The history faculty were joined by several other members of the NSU faculty and staff. Professors Donna Baker, University Archivist and Records Officer at the Cammie G. Henry Research Center, and Anna T. MacDonald, head of Information Literacy, Library Instruction and Reference, both of whom regularly provide research and database support, were also in attendance. In addition, Ronnette Pellegrin, administrative coordinator for NSU’s Sports Information Department, tirelessly worked the registration table at the event, a duty she has cheerfully coordinated for more than a decade.
NSU faculty were particularly pleased that 2025 graduate Ezra Jett (B.A. History), now an M.A. candidate at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, presented a paper at the conference entitled, “The Llano Way: Ideology in the New Llano Cooperative Community, 1917-1938.”
NSU senior history students are currently completing a variety of challenging internships during the spring semester. These placements include the NSU Cammie G. Henry Archives, the NSU Creole Heritage Center, Melrose on the Cane, the Cane River National Heritage Area and Los Adaes, as well as the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training and the Northwest Louisiana History Museum.
In Fall 2026, the NSU’s history program will offer 10 upper-level content courses in subjects as diverse as Louisiana History, African American History through Reconstruction, Atlantic Slavery, the Roman Republic and Empire and the Renaissance and Reformation.
Of special significance, in conjunction with the 250th anniversary of American independence, Dr. MacDonald will teach History 4320 (Revolutionary America, 1754–1783), an advanced seminar examining the pivotal era of the American founding. Dr. Pellegrin will introduce a new course at NSU, History 4360 (The United States, 1912–1945), which offers a detailed examination of the nation during the critical decades between the two World Wars. As students in Dr. Pellegrin’s classes might expect, the course will likely feature at least one period-accurate dress-up day and several live musical interludes.