Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
    Date: 4/16/01
      Contact:                           Christina Chapple   18

HISTORIAN TO SPEAK ON EARLY HISTORY OF FLORIDA PARISHES AT SELHA
DINNER, MEETING
     HAMMOND -- Auburn University history professor and author Robin F.A. Fabel, an
expert in British West Florida studies, will present the fourth annual Southeast Louisiana
Historical Association Lectures on Thursday, April 26.
     Fabel will be the guest speaker at the spring meeting and dinner of the Southeast
Louisiana Historical Association (SELHA) and, earlier in the day, will present a lecture at
Southeastern Louisiana University's Vonnie Borden Theatre.
     The SELHA Lectures are sponsored by the Southeastern Center for Southeast Louisiana
Studies, Department of History and Political Science and College of Arts and Sciences.
     The SELHA meeting and spring dinner will begin at 6 p.m. at the Hammond Regional
Arts Center, 217 East Thomas St., in downtown Hammond. Fabel's presentation, "The Colonial
Challenges of British West Florida," is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
     All persons interested in joining the Southeast Louisiana Historical Association, which
meets twice a year, are invited to attend. The association, which includes more than 100
members, was revived in April 2000 under the sponsorship of the Center for Southeast Louisiana
Studies.
     Fabel will also give the presentation at 11 a.m. on April 26 at Vonnie Borden Theatre.
The lecture is free and open to the public. 
     Fabel will examine the unique history of the Florida Parishes, which became a British
colony following England's victory in the French and Indian War,  from its origins in the Treaty
of Paris in 1763 to its capture by Spanish Louisiana's Governor-General Bernardo de Galvez in
1779.
     Fabel is the author of four books, including "Colonial Challenges: Britons, Native
Americans and Caribs, 1759-1775," "Shipwreck and Adventures of Monsieur Pierre Viaud,"
"The Economy of British West Florida, 1763-1781" and "Bombast and Broadsides: The Lives of
George Jonstone."
     For additional information about the lectures, membership in the Southeast Louisiana
Historical Association and costs and reservations for the spring dinner meeting, contact the
Center for Southeastern Louisiana Studies, 1-985-549-2151 or seluhistory@selu.edu.
                             -SLU-
Press release available online at www.selu.edu/NewsEvents/PublicInfoOffice/newsp01.htm