Southeastern NEWS

                       Southeastern Louisiana University
     Public Information Office
     SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
     504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
     publicinfo@selu.edu
     www.selu.edu/NewsEvents
     Date:4/22/97
       Contact:  Christina Chapple 65

Editors: Photo accompanies release
SLU SPONSORS 11TH ANNUAL DEEP DELTA CIVIL WAR SYMPOSIUM
     HAMMOND -- Southeastern Louisiana University's acclaimed Deep Delta Civil War
Symposium again will bring together nationally recognized historians to discuss and detail their
research into topics ranging from guerilla warfare to the plight of civilians.
     The symposium, scheduled for May 30-31 in the SLU Student Union Theatre, will focus
on "The Dark Side of War: Destruction, Incarceration, and Human Suffering."
     "Most Americans would argue that the Civil War concluded in 1865," said Southeastern
history professor Sam Hyde, the symposium's coordinator. "I would argue instead that it has
merely changed form. Rather than a war of bullets, it has become a conflict over the historical
reality of the war. Southerners and Northerners, as well as black and white Americans, harbor 
vastly different perceptions of the nature and the outcome of the conflict."
     Hyde said the purpose of the 11th annual symposium is "to avoid concentrating on the
ever present myths associated with the war and instead highlighting historical truths as evidenced
in the research of some of the nation's leading Civil War historians." Presentations by 11
renowned historians will discuss violence, civilians' suffering, and the trauma of both Northern
and Southern prisoners.
     Pulitzer Prize winning historian James McPherson of Princeton University, author of
Battle Cry of Freedom, will headline the 11th annual symposium, speaking at 8 p.m. May 31 on
"Two Strategies of Victory: William T. Sherman and the Civil War."
     McPherson will be joined by Andy Trudeau, National Public Radio Cultural Program
director and author of Bloody Roads South; Reid Mitchell of the University of Maryland at
Baltimore, author of Civil War Soldiers: Their Expectations and Experiences; and Michael
                             (MORE)
DEEP DELTA   Add One
Fellman of Simon Frasier University, author of Inside War: The Guerilla Conflict in Missouri.
Also on the schedule are Charles Roland of the University of Kentucky; Craig Symonds, U.S.
Naval Academy; Edwin Bearss, former chief historian for the National Park Service; William Still
of East Carolina University; Terrance J. Winschel, Vicksburg National Military Park historian;
Dale E. Phillips, Jean Lafitte National Historical Park, and Steve Michot of Mississippi County
Community College.
     Topics include an unprecedented analysis of civilian casualties, an examination of
Northern and Southern prisoner of war camps, and the little noted war in the Pacific. 
     "The media and many commentators often tend to accept without question the version of
history presented by the victors, or conform historical accuracy to the demands of a political
agenda," said Hyde. Hyde said the recently televised film 'Andersonville' gave many viewers the
impression that northern prisoners suffered unduly at the hands of their Confederate captors in
contrast to the humane treatment of Confederate prisoners in the North. "Not mentioned," Hyde
said, "was the extreme deprivation and want confronting southern civilians that limited their
ability to provide for prisoners, nor the appalling suffering endured by confederate soldiers in
prisons in the North where food and warm clothing remained abundant."
     "The sustained success of our conference," he said, "is directly related to our desire to
remain independent of agendas and instead present the history of the war as accurately as
possible. Thinking individuals then have the right to form their own opinions of events based on
the most factually reliable information we can provide."
     Registration fees are: All sessions and meals, $140 ($120, students/spouses); all sessions
without meals, $75 ($65, students/spouses); Friday only with meals, $60 ($45, students/spouses);
Saturday only with meals, $80 ($65, students/spouses). Fees will be slightly more after the May
17 registration deadline. Cocktail parties each evening will provide the opportunity to discuss and
critique topics with the presenters. A book fair, located in the main hall of the conference area,
will feature the most current works on Civil War history.
      Reservations can be made by writing the Deep Delta Civil War Symposium, SLU 590,
Hammond, LA 70402 or calling Hyde or Randy Sanders at 504-549-2106 or 549-2109.
                            - SLU -
     This press release is available on the World Wide Web:
       www.selu.edu/NewsEvents/PublicInfo Office/newsp97.htm