McNeese SAGE Lecture Set

Dr. Maria Hebert-Leiter, an English lecturer at Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pa., will present a lecture titled “Images of Depression-Era Louisiana” at 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 26, in the McNeese SEED Center as part of the 2017 Fall Sage Series at McNeese State University.

In the 1930s, the U.S. government sent photographers across the country to document the need for federal assistance in rural areas.  Ben Shahn, Russell Lee and Marion Post Wolcott, photographers for the Farm Security Administration in Louisiana, assumed responsibility for documenting the rural areas of Louisiana. They took over 2,600 photographs that recorded modest homes, family gatherings and the working lives of citizens across the state.

Hebert-Leiter’s lecture – based on her book with the same name – traces the genesis of the FSA Collection, examines its role in promoting the documentary style of picture-taking and explores the motivations and methods of the collection’s head, Roy E. Stryker.

A native of Thibodaux, Hebert-Leiter earned her Bachelor of Arts in English language and literature from Loyola University and her Master of Arts degree in English literature and doctorate in English from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

Lectures are open to the public and cost is $59 for the series. For more information or to register, call 337-475-5616 or visit www.mcneese.edu/leisure.

Persons needing accommodations as provided by the Americans with Disabilities Act should contact the ADA Coordinator at 337-475-5428, voice; 337-475-5960, fax; 337-562-4227, TDD/TTY, hearing impaired; or by email at cdo@mcneese.edu.