Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
    Date: 5/18/01
      Contact:                           Christina Chapple   18

SLU CIVIL WAR SYMPOSIUM WILL DEBATE HISTORICAL ACCURACY AND
POLITICAL SENSITIVITY
     HAMMOND -- Does the federal government have a right to mandate that only one
perspective be presented at Civil War battlefields? Do people visit battlefields to learn about the
slave system or to learn about soldiers and battles?
     Historians from throughout the country will tackle these and other issues surrounding the
debate over Civil War battlefield interpretation at Southeastern Louisiana University's 15th
annual Deep Delta Civil War Symposium.
     The theme for the symposium, "Interpreting the Civil War: Historical Accuracy Amid the
Challenge of Political Sensitivity," was prompted by a "fiery exchange" at last year's symposium,
said  Southeastern historian and author Samuel C. Hyde Jr., Leon Ford Endowed Chair in
Regional Studies and director of the Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies, the symposium's
sponsor.
     The symposium will take place Friday, June 8 and Saturday, June 9 at the university's War
Memorial Student Union Theater.
     "This year's symposium addresses controversial proposals by the National Park Services to
add examinations of the causes of the war, particularly slavery, to the interpretations and
exhibitions at our national battlefield parks," Hyde said. "Given the on-going legislative actions
and voter referendums surrounding historic and political display of Confederate flags and
symbols, some fear these proposals represent a clash between historical accuracy, regional
partisanship and political correctness."
     He said the 2001 symposium will provide a forum for opposing views and give the Civil War
community the opportunity to influence the debate.
     Through historians' presentations and a culminating "Point-Counterpoint" exchange,
nationally recognized historians will represent all spectrums of the debate, Hyde said.
Participants will include those responsible for implementing the new policy, such as Dwight T.
Pitcaithley, chief historian for the National Park Service, "as well as those who believe it
amounts to little more than a politically-correct assault on historical truth," Hyde said.
     The Point-Counterpoint session is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on June 9, Hyde said.
     Symposium speakers and topics for the two-day symposium include
      Hyde, "The Historical Development of the Myth of Southern Inferiority"
      Pitcaithley, "Civil War History in a New Century: The National Park Service as an
Educational Institution"
      Michael Martinez, Kennesaw State University, "Understanding the Debate over
Confederate Symbols: Traditionalists versus Reconstructionists"
      Gaines Foster, Louisiana State University, "Possibilities and Problems in the Confederate
Celebrations, 1865-1913"                 
      Terrence J. Winschel, Vicksburg National Military Park historian, "Stephen D. Lee and the
Making of an American Shrine"
      Herman Hattaway, University of Missouri at Kansas City, "The First Five Civil War
Battlefield Parks"
      Edward C. Smith, director of the Civil War Institute at American University, "Blacks in
Blue and Gray"
      Charles P. Roland, Alumni Professor Emeritus at the University of Kentucky, "Why the
War Came"
      William J. Cooper Jr., Boyd Professor, Louisiana State University, "Jefferson Davis and the
Nature of the Civil War."
     "The National Park Service and other institutions entrusted by the public to interpret history
through the medium of our national parks are often perceived as adhering to a narrow perspective
that sees little value in the cause of the Confederacy," Hyde said. "The symposium offers an
opportunity for our regional public to demonstrate that there is another perspective."
     Tickets can be purchased in advance from the Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies,
located in Sims Memorial Library, or at the door. For additional information about the Deep
Delta Civil War Symposium, call the Center at 985-549-2151 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
weekdays. Information is also available online at www.selu.edu/Academics/Depts
/RegionalStudies.

                             -SLU-
Press release available online at www.selu.edu./NewsEvents/PublicInfoOffice/newsp01.htm