Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           SLU 10880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           985/549-2341/fax 985-549-2061
    Date: 3/8/02
      Contact:                           Christina Chapple 18

SOUTHEASTERN EXHIBIT TO SPOTLIGHT WEST FLORIDA REVOLUTION
     HAMMOND -- An exhibit illustrating the history of "the most understudied insurrection
in American history" -- the West Florida Revolution, which created an independent nation in
what is today Louisiana's Florida Parishes -- will be on display March 13- June 15 at
Southeastern Louisiana University's Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies.
     "The West Florida Revolution, 1804-1810: Fulfilling Jefferson's Mandate, Furthering a
Distinctive Regional Identity" will open at 4 p.m., Wednesday, March 13 at the Center, located
on the second floor of Southeastern's Sims Memorial Library. The opening includes a reception
and presentation on the exhibit, said Director Samuel C. Hyde Jr., Southeastern's Ford Family
Endowed Chair in Regional Studies.
     Hyde said the Center's latest exhibit sheds light on an event that "has stimulated little
scholarly interest and even less public acclaim." 
     "Yet, the revolt represents an event that helps define the Florida Parishes' distinctive
place in Louisiana history," Hyde said. "It serves as a dramatic example of regional residents'
historical willingness to determine the course of their own future through force of arms."
     Hyde said the West Florida Revolution peaked on September 23, 1810, when armed
rebels seized the Spanish Fort San Carlos at Baton Rouge. 
     "Following the garrison's dairy cows through a hole in the cypress palisade in the foggy
morning darkness, the rebels surprised sleeping Spanish soldiers and seized the fort," Hyde said.
"The revolt represented the climax of a complex series of events through which residents of the
Florida Parishes violently shaped the course of regional destiny."
     The revolt "created an independent nation, the Republic of West Florida, and, eventually,
forged the completion of an incomplete Louisiana Purchase," Hyde said.
                             (MORE)
WEST FLORIDA REVOLUTION EXHIBIT   Add One
     The exhibit, presented in cooperation with Secretary of State Fox McKeithen and the
State Archives, will center on the only known surviving copy of the constitution of the Republic
of West Florida and supporting documents describing the Baton Rouge battle and efforts to
establish the republic. 
     It also will include rare artifacts from the period designed to provide visitors with a
glimpse of life during the time of the revolt and the short-lived republic and an extensive
narrative that will provide "the most detailed coverage of the event ever displayed," Hyde said.
      "We hope to increase interest in the event and encourage debate concerning specific
aspects of the revolt and republican period," Hyde said.
     The exhibit will be on display from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., weekdays, through June 15. Tour
and school groups are welcome. For additional information, contact the center at 985-549-2151.
                             -SLU-
Press release available online at www.selu.edu/news/spring02.html