Center for Louisiana Studies

The Center for Louisiana Studies is an academic center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette whose work combines research, archival preservation, regional publishing, and public access to materials concerning Louisiana. Founded in 1973, it developed from the university's Louisiana Colonial Records Collection and from an earlier university history-publishing program. Its scope extends across the political, social, economic, environmental, architectural, linguistic, genealogical, and cultural history of the state and the wider Gulf South. The center's archival role is particularly important. The Louisiana Colonial Records Collection was begun in 1967 to assemble microfilmed or reproduced primary-source records relating to the discovery, exploration, settlement, and development of the Mississippi Valley from 1682 through 1803. Materials were gathered from French, Spanish, British, and Louisiana repositories. The collection gives the center a major documentary resource for studying the colonial history of Louisiana and the lower Mississippi Valley. Together with the Library of Congress and the University of Memphis, the center is identified as one of the principal repositories in the United States for French colonial documents. Publishing has been central to the center's identity since its creation. Through the former University of Southwestern Louisiana History Series, the center established itself as a regional scholarly publisher. It later developed a broad program of Louisiana-focused series and monographs, including works on architecture, courthouses, Cajun and Creole culture, jazz, the Acadian diaspora, New Orleans cemeteries, Voodoo, genealogy, and civil records. The center also operates UL Press, the publishing imprint associated with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. According to the reference description, it has more than 100 Louisiana-related titles in print and is the world's largest publisher focused exclusively on Louisiana-related books. The center's activities are not limited to conventional academic history. Its work supports interdisciplinary research and helps document the diverse communities and cultural traditions of Louisiana, including French, Spanish, African, Indigenous, Acadian, Cajun, Creole, and other regional histories. It also encompasses the Center for Cultural and Ecotourism and maintains a partnership with the Center for Acadian and Creole Folklore, extending its role into folklore, heritage interpretation, and cultural tourism. The Center for Louisiana Studies is therefore best understood not as a commercial consumer brand but as a university-based knowledge institution. Its principal offerings are scholarly books, archival collections, research assistance, documentary resources, and cultural programming. Its audience includes historians, genealogists, students, educators, researchers, libraries, heritage organizations, and readers interested in Louisiana's distinctive past and present.

The institutional roots of the Center for Louisiana Studies predate its formal establishment. In 1967, the University of Southwestern Louisiana began assembling the Louisiana Colonial Records Collection, an effort to bring together reproduced primary documents concerning the Mississippi Valley between the French claim of 1682 and the end of the colonial and territorial period in 1803. The collection drew on records held in French, Spanish, British, and Louisiana repositories. Its purpose was to make widely dispersed documentary evidence available for historical research in the United States. The Center for Louisiana Studies was founded in 1973, growing around the university's holdings in the colonial records project. The center combined the functions of a research facility, archival repository, and publisher. Its early publishing identity was shaped by the University of Southwestern Louisiana History Series, which had begun in 1970. Glenn Conrad, who directed the center from 1973 through 2003, edited that series from its inception until its fifteenth and final volume in 1985. The series helped establish the center as a significant regional publishing institution. The center's development was also supported by books such as The Courthouses of Louisiana and The Cajuns: Essays on their History and Culture. Although these titles were modest in commercial scale, their proceeds helped the organization expand the quality and range of its publishing program. The center subsequently produced several specialized series. The U.S.L. Architecture Series developed from the work on Louisiana courthouses, while the Louisiana Life Series addressed the cultures and communities of South Louisiana. Subjects in the latter area included Cajun identity, jazz, the Acadian diaspora, New Orleans cemeteries, and Voodoo. Another major undertaking was the Louisiana Purchase Bicentennial Series in Louisiana History, described in the reference material as the most ambitious Louisiana-related publication project undertaken by a publisher. The center also issued works on genealogy and civil records, broadening its readership beyond university historians to genealogists, local researchers, libraries, and families investigating Louisiana ancestry. The archival collection grew substantially through the reproduction of material from overseas and domestic repositories. The reference account describes more than one million pages copied from French archives, over 1.5 million pages from Spanish archives, more than 20,000 pages from British repositories, and over 165,000 pages from Louisiana sources. These holdings made the center an important location for research into the colonial history of Louisiana, the Mississippi Valley, and the relationships among European empires, Indigenous peoples, enslaved populations, settlers, and later communities. Over time, the center continued to operate as both a scholarly institution and a public-facing cultural resource. Its publishing activity is associated with UL Press, the university press operated by the center and an introductory member of the Association of University Presses. The center also encompasses the Center for Cultural and Ecotourism and partners with the Center for Acadian and Creole Folklore. These connections reflect an institutional mission that includes not only academic publication and archival preservation but also folklore, heritage, cultural interpretation, and ecotourism. Today, the Center for Louisiana Studies remains affiliated with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Its work covers Louisiana history and culture in a broad, interdisciplinary sense, with books, research collections, documentary resources, and related cultural initiatives serving scholars and the wider public. Its institutional significance rests on the combination of a specialized Louisiana publishing program and one of the country's notable repositories for colonial Louisiana documentation.

• 2003

  Glenn Conrad's directorship ends

  [1]Center for Louisiana Studiesen.wikipedia.org

  Glenn Conrad concludes a three-decade tenure as the center's director.

• 1985

  University history series concludes

  [1]Center for Louisiana Studiesen.wikipedia.org

  The University of Southwestern Louisiana History Series reaches its fifteenth and final title.

• 1978

  U.S.L. Architecture Series follows courthouse publication

  [1]Center for Louisiana Studiesen.wikipedia.org

  The center's architecture publishing program develops after its work on Louisiana courthouses.

• 1973

  Center for Louisiana Studies founded

  [1]Center for Louisiana Studiesen.wikipedia.org

  The center is formally established around the university's colonial-records holdings and assumes research, archival, and publishing functions.

• 1970

  University history series established

  [1]Center for Louisiana Studiesen.wikipedia.org

  The University of Southwestern Louisiana History Series begins, creating an early publishing foundation for the later center.

• 1967

  Louisiana Colonial Records Collection begins

  [1]Center for Louisiana Studiesen.wikipedia.org

  The University of Southwestern Louisiana begins assembling reproduced primary-source records on the discovery, settlement, and development of the Mississippi Valley from 1682 to 1803.

A university-based authority and publishing center dedicated exclusively to documenting, interpreting, preserving, and disseminating knowledge about Louisiana and its cultures.

• University press

  UL Press

  The publishing imprint operated by the Center for Louisiana Studies at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. UL Press issues scholarly and regional books focused on Louisiana history, culture, communities, architecture, genealogy, folklore, and related subjects. It functions as the center's principal channel for disseminating research beyond the archive and university.

• Archival collection · 1967

  Louisiana Colonial Records Collection

  A major documentary collection begun in 1967 to gather reproduced records concerning the Mississippi Valley between 1682 and 1803. Its materials originate in French, Spanish, British, and Louisiana sources and support research into colonial administration, exploration, settlement, and regional development.

• Academic publishing · 1970

  Louisiana-related scholarly series

  The center has developed multiple publication series addressing Louisiana history and culture. These include the University of Southwestern Louisiana History Series, the U.S.L. Architecture Series, the Louisiana Life Series, and the Louisiana Purchase Bicentennial Series in Louisiana History. Together, they cover built heritage, regional communities, cultural traditions, and documentary history.

• Reference publishing

  Genealogy and civil-record publications

  A body of books and reference works dealing with Louisiana genealogy and civil records. These publications extend the center's audience to genealogists, family historians, local researchers, libraries, and members of the public investigating ancestry and community history.

1. 1Center for Louisiana Studiesen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Center for Louisiana Studies official websitecls.louisiana.edu