Events
Spring 2024
February 1, 2024
Ron Rozelle: Texas Gulf Raconteur.
5:00 pm, Spindletop Room, Eight Floor, Mary and John Gray Library.
Award-winning author Ron Rozelle will speak about his experiences as a writer of Texas fiction and nonfiction. He is the author of eleven books, including Leaving the Country of Sin: A Novel, winner of the 2022 Summerlee Book Prize. Rozelle is an inductee of the Texas Institute of Letters and recently retired after a forty year career as a teacher of English and Creative Writing. Refreshments provided. Free and open to the public.
February 19, 2024
Cookin' Cajun with Jim LaBove.
Dinner and Presentation. Currently at Capacity.
6:00 pm, CICE Room 113.
Local author, artist, and historian Jim LaBove will share his family's stories and recipes that feature the culture and cuisine of the Bayou Cajun, Acadian descendants unique to Southeast Texas and and Southwestern Louisiana. LaBove grew up in Sabine Pass where he worked with his father Lazime "Cotton" LaBove, a commercial fisherman who operated Cotton's Seafood. Jim LaBove graduated Lamar University in 1970 with a BA in history. He is the author and illustrator of several books including Sketches of My Cajun Life (2016, 2018) and Cotton's Seafood: An Autobiographical Cook Book (2016). Chef Casey Gates (Department of Nutrition, Hospitality & Human Services) and his culinary arts students will prepare and serve a full dinner based on LaBove family recipes.
The event is currently at capacity, and we are unable to take new RSVPs. Thank you for supporting the Center for History and culture.
The CICE Building is located at 5091 Rolfe Christopher Dr, Beaumont, TX 77710.
February 29, 2024
The Black Experience in the Oil Industry with Mary Barrett.
5:00 pm, Presentation, Dishman Auditorium.
The experiences of African Americans in the US oil industry ranged from challenging to heroic. Although they faced many obstacles, they persevered, and several incorporated their own companies to manage land holdings, broker leases, and drill for oil. Mary Barrett is Professor Emerita of Geology at Centenary College of Louisiana and current editor of Oil-Industry History, journal of the Petroleum History Institute. Free and open to the public.
April 12, 2024
Apollo 13 at the Jefferson Theatre
Tentative. Details TBA
In conjunction with the City of Beaumont's "Movie Night" at the Jefferson Theatre, the Center for History and Culture will host a screening of Apollo 13 with a guest speaker. Free to Lamar University students with a valid ID. Check back for more details soon.
April 16, 2024
The Built and Unbuilt Culture of Southeast Texas with Tara Dudley
Details TBA
Award-winning author and architectural scholar Tara Dudley will give the keynote for the Third Annual Greater Gulf Symposium. The keynote and reception will also include a poster session that highlights the work of the Symposium Fellows. Dr. Dudley is an assistant professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the author of Building Antebellum New Orleans: Free People of Color and Their Influence, winner of the 2022 Summerlee Book Prize for Nonfiction. Free and open to the public.