SEMO TO OFFER 12 LECTURES ON BICENTENNIAL

Southeast Missouri State University will present a series of 12 lectures concerning the history of the Cape Girardeau area as part of the city's bicentennial celebration.

The lectures will be presented over the course of the next 12 months. The first lecture will be held Friday and the final lecture will be held Oct. 15.

All lectures will be held in the Dempster Auditorium, Crisp Hall of Nursing, at 7:30 p.m. The lectures are free and open to the public.

The following is a list of the scheduled lectures:

Friday: Claude Strausser of the Corps of Engineers will speak on "The Comet, Clemens, and the Corps: Changes in the Mississippi River in American History."

Dec. 11: Carol Morrow of Southeast will speak on "The Indians of the Cape Girardeau Area."

Jan. 15: Lynwood Montell of Western Kentucky University will discuss "Spanish Legends of the Mississippi River."

Feb. 5: Michael Roark of Southeast will discuss "The French and Germans in Cape Girardeau."

Feb. 19: Bernice Coar-Cobb of Southeast will discuss "The History of African-Americans in Cape Girardeau."

March 5: Bob White of Southeast will speak about "Steamboats and Early Business in Cape Girardeau."

April 2: Frank Nickell will discuss "Cape Girardeau and the Civil War."

May 4: Barbra Wall of St. Mary's College in Notre Dame, Ind., will speak on "Civil War Nursing on the Mississippi."

June 8: W.T. Doherty of West Virginia University will speak about Cape Girardeau civic leader and railroad operator Louis Houck.

Aug. 11: John Coleman of Southeast will speak on "Reviving the River City: Billy Sunday in Cape Girardeau."

Sept. 17: Richard Betterly of Southeast will discuss "Architectural Heritage of Cape Girardeau."

Oct. 15: Art Mattingly of Southeast will discuss "Cape Girardeau in the 20th Century."

More information about the lectures may be obtained by contacting the Center for Regional History at 651-2555.