SYMPOSIUM!
NEXT EDITION
SPRING 2027!
2026 EDITION
ONE SINGLE PLACE:
LOUISIANA AND THE SHAPING OF
THE EARLY AMERICAN REPUBLIC
In celebration of the United States’ 250th anniversary, the Historic New Orleans Collection and the New Orleans Foundation for Francophone Cultures co-presented a multimedia program that traced the shaping of our American identity through presentations, films, and musical performances. This symposium specifically focused on the years following the Revolutionary War, when cultural exchange and trade—particularly between Native Americans and Francophone colonists along the Mississippi River—changed the perception of what it means to be American.
PROGRAM!
MARCH 20-21, 2026
WILLIAMS RESEARCH CENTER
410 CHARTRES ST, NEW ORLEANS
Keynote Speech
The Greatest Sentence Ever Written
Walter Isaacson
Panel 1
Native American Influences on French Colonial Louisiana and Why They Mattered in Forming an American Identity
Dr. Daniel Usner (Vanderbilt University)
Panel 2
Understanding French-Speaking American Culture in the Illinois Country
Dr. William Thompson (University of Memphis)
Brian Hawkins (Filmmaker)
Panel 3
Language and the Making of Belonging in America
Dr. Claire-Marie Brisson (Harvard University)
Dr. Rachel Dougherty (Center for Louisiana Studies)
Panel 4
French Folk Songs in the Illinois Country and Louisiana and the Shaping of an American Sound
Bruce Sunpie Barnes (Cultural Historian and Musician)
Denis Stroughmatt (Preservationist, Instructor, and Musician)
Panel 5
Indigenous Songs and Stories
Dr. Jeffery Darensbourg (Researcher and Performer)
Joseph Darensbourg (Researcher and Performer)
SPEAKERS
SCHOLARS
RESEARCHERS
PERFORMERS
MERCI!
In September 2025, the National Endowment for the Humanities(NEH) awarded us one of its Celebrate America grants to organize this symposium ahead of America 250. This funding will also allow us to curate and present an original exhibition, Becoming Louisiana: Borders in Motion (1688-1803), which will open to the public on April 15, 2026.
We would also like to thank the Historic New Orleans Collection for co-presenting and hosting this symposium in their beautiful premises.
