Celebrate Louisiana State University’s History

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - Oct. 21, 2013 - PRLog -- The newest addition to Arcadia Publishing’s The Campus History Series is Louisiana State University by local author Barry Cowan with a foreword by Dr. William L. Jenkins. The book boasts more than 200 vintage images of the LSU campus throughout its history.

Louisiana State University began in 1860 as a small, all-male military school near Pineville. The institution survived the Civil War, Reconstruction politics and budgetary difficulties to become a nationally and internationally recognized leader in research and teaching. A devastating fire destroyed the campus in 1869 and the school moved to Baton Rouge, where it has remained.

Successive moves to larger campuses in 1887 and 1925 created greater opportunities in academics, student life and athletics. Academics began with classical and engineering courses. New majors in the arts, literature, engineering, agriculture and the sciences evolved, along with research in those fields. Student life changed from military regimentation to coeducation and students’ freedom to live off campus and make their own decisions. Intercollegiate athletics began in 1893 with baseball and football games against Tulane and the LSU Tigers have since won numerous championships. These evolutionary steps all helped to create Louisiana’s flagship university.

Highlights of Louisiana State University include:

•Displays rarely seen before images, most of which came from the collections in the LSU Libraries’ Special Collections in Hill Memorial Library.
•Highlights the four campuses since LSU’s inception in 1860.
•Discusses how the university had mandatory ROTC until 1969.
•Discusses how the baseball team, not the football team, was the first to wear the school’s signature purple and gold in 1893.

Available at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at (888)-313-2665 or online.

Arcadia Publishing is the leading publisher of local and regional history in the United States.  Our mission is to make history accessible and meaningful through the publication of books on the heritage of America’s people and places.  Have we done a book on your town?  Visit www.arcadiapublishing.com/.