News release Public Information Office  SLU 10880   Hammond, LA 70402   phone: 985-549-2341   fax: 985-549-2061 publicinfo@selu.edu Spring 2004 news releases Public Information home News archive Contact: Christina Chapple Date: 4/14/04   SOUTHEASTERN’S "RELUCTANT AMERICANS” DOCU-DRAMA TO AIR ON WYES SUNDAY       HAMMOND -- "Reluctant Americans:  The West Florida Revolt, Completing the Louisiana Purchase," a docu-drama film produced by Southeastern Louisiana University’s Center of Southeast Louisiana Studies, will appear Sunday (April 18) on New Orleans’ WYES public television channel.        The film, written by center director Samuel C. Hyde, Jr. and produced in cooperation with L.E. Wallace Productions, will air at 7:30 p.m. on WYES (Channel 12).       “‘Reluctant Americans’ traces the events connected with the bloody rebellion that led to the creation of the original Lone Star Republic in the Florida Parishes of Louisiana and that region's eventual annexation by the United States,” Hyde said. He said the film  has been praised for its dramatic explanation of the events connected to southeastern Louisiana's curious connection with the Louisiana Purchase.        “It has done much to reveal the little known aspects of the brief history of the Independent Republic of West Florida,” Hyde said.        Shot on location in the Florida Parishes utilizing more than 80 regional actors, the film premiered at the university’s Columbia Theater for the Performing Arts in Hammond last September. It then toured the five parishes that contributed to the grant used to underwrite the project.        For additional information about “Reluctant Americans,” contact the center at 985-549-2151.