The Ernest J. Gaines Center at UL Lafayette

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💙 Louisiana State Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter proposes a bill to name a portion of Louisiana Highway 1 in Pointe Coupee Parish as the "Ernest J. Gaines Memorial Highway".

The bill honors the late author of "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman".

Today is Dr. Gaines’s birthday. Join us on Sunday to celebrate his legacy at the rededication of the Jane Pittman Oak in Lakeland Louisiana.

If you are a postdoctoral scholar, independent researcher, or creative writer, consider applying to our Scholars-in-Residence Program. It offers long and short-term fellowships designed to support and encourage research and writing on the history, politics, literature, and culture of the peoples of Africa and the African diaspora. Fellows receive a stipend, research support, and more. The deadline to apply is December 1, 2025.
https://www.nypl.org/about/fellowships-institutes/schomburg-center-scholars-in-residency/application?utm_campaign=schomburgsocialmedia&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

Photo: Lisa Herndon

Join us as we discuss Charles Chessnutt and Ernest J. Gaines with the amazing author, Wiley Cash!

Join us for a special screening of “Ancestral Artistry”, presented by the Louisiana Architecture Foundation and the Burden Series!

📍 Bijou Theater, Lafayette
📅 Friday, March 28
⏰ Doors open at 5:15 PM

Purchase tickets here: https://bit.ly/41oLTKt

A huge thank you to Designing Women of Acadiana, CSI of Acadiana, and AIA South Louisiana for making this event possible! 🎥💫

Don’t miss this celebration of the rich architectural legacy shaped by Africans and Creoles of Color in Louisiana. Mark your calendars & stay tuned for more details!

We are so proud of you Carson! You deserve all of these awards and then some!

Join us Monday 3/18 for Lunch and a talk with Louisiana Orphan Train Museum!
Where: 141 Rex St, HL Griffin Rm 315 University of Louisiana at Lafayette
When: 11:30am to 1:00pm.
This event is free and open to the public!
Organized by UL Lafayette Guilbeau Center

Come support my students and help us fill important information gaps! Your experiences are important and we would love to capture them!

From the classroom to the community, University of Louisiana at Lafayette alumni have been making their presence felt for 125 years. In commemoration of Black History Month, we will be proudly spotlighting some of our Black alumni who have left their mark after graduation.

There is no better place to start than in 1956, when Christiana Smith became the first African American graduate from then-Southwestern Louisiana Institute, at the age of 40. She was born in Carencro, Louisiana, and developed a profound love of education through her experiences at several Catholic schools, including the Sacred Heart Normal School in Lake Charles, founded by Katherine Drexel, a pioneer in creating educational opportunities for Native and African Americans in the South.
Smith earned a teaching certificate there in 1937.

During a decade of teaching in St. Martin Parish, she was able to earn college credits at both Southern and Xavier universities before enrolling at SLI in 1954. Smith's legacy lives on through an Alumni Chapter. The Christiana Smith African American Alumni Chapter was formally chartered in 1992. What initially started as several friends gathering together for a reunion has become a flourishing chapter of dedicated alumni. The chapter puts on events like Sweet Sounds of Sharing during Homecoming Week, provides engagement opportunities for alumni and awards scholarships every year to African American students.

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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/ernest-j-gaines-is-literatures-best-kept-secret/

Why Ernest J Gaines is literature’s best-kept secret The award-winning author is celebrated in America, but strangely ignored in the UK. We are missing a treat