Southeast Louisiana Historical Association
The Southeast Louisiana Historical Association sponsors two annual meetings that feature prominent local historians. Each meeting includes a dinner/social and a lecture/presentation of historical or cultural significance. The Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies helps to organize and underwrite this important local historical association. New and renewed membership in the Southeast Louisiana Historical Association remains $10 for individual members and $20 for family membership. For more information, contact SELHA President, Dr. Roman Heleniak at (985) 549-2151.
On 25 May 2005, former Southeastern graduate student and current Washington Parish public school teacher, Ms. Dera Talley provided SELHA members with a memorable dinner lecture. Her comments on the development of the Washington Parish Fair clearly moved many in the crowd who remembered their past, pleasant experiences at what the events’ coordinators call America’s “largest free fair.” Complimenting Ms. Talley’s remarks was a sumptuous spread that included abnormally large cuts of homemade roast beef prepared by SELHA President, Dr. Roman Heleniak.
For the Winter meeting on 14 December 2005, food, spirits, and frivolity once again prevailed as SELHA members visited with old friends and made new ones over a hearty assortment of barbequed items compliments of Wilbert’s of Covington.
At the Association’s spring meeting 27 April 2006, SELA members dined on a variety of delicious foods that included po-boy sandwiches from the "Crazy Pig," jambalaya from the "Jambalaya Company" and Hungarian pastries from the "Old World Bakery." The crowd, which was the largest gathering of the Association in a decade, was then treated to the premier of the documentary film, "The Manchac Swamp: Manmade Disaster in Search of a Resolution." Two years ago the Center received a $63,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to write a narrative and to produce a documentary film highlighting the long-term consequences of human habitation in the northern and western Pontchartrain basin. This film is the culmination of this major project. "The Manchac Swamp: Manmade Disaster in Search of a Resolution" has since been selected to appear in the New York International Film Festival on 17 September 2006 and is scheduled to air statewide on Louisiana Public Broadcasting 3 September, 2006.
The Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies remains proud of its affiliation with the Southeast Louisiana Historical Association. We encourage those interested in joining the organization, or in renewing their membership, to contact SELHA President Dr. Roman Heleniak at (985) 549-2151.