NATCHITOCHES, LA – Cane River National Heritage Area, Inc. (CRNHA), will host a brown bag lunch and learn lecture entitled, “Finding Meaning and Preserving the Past: Mapping the Cultural Resources in the Cane River National Heritage Area” on Friday, April 28, 2017 at the Fort St. Jean Baptiste SHS.
Guest lecturer Adam Cox will discuss the Cane River Heritage Inventory & Map, an online database created for CRNHA using the Arches platform to enhance the public's access to historic information about the area. Adam Cox holds a BA in Anthropology from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. He has worked with GIS since 2011, beginning in cultural resource management and historic preservation but finding work in many different fields--from hazard mitigation planning to co-teaching software classes.
Cox will show how this project came about and provide a demonstration of the database’s most interesting features, one of which being an interactive web map that includes many historic maps--from Sanborn Insurance Maps of Natchitoches to previously unpublished "confiscated" Civil War Confederate maps of the whole parish. Another important feature that will be shown is the inclusion of historic audio interviews made in the 1970s with Natchitoches Parish residents about life in the region as well as a comprehensive survey of the American Cemetery in Natchitoches. Come prepared to engage in local history in a new and exciting way!
The lecture and demonstration will be approximately an hour and half long and held at Fort St. Jean Baptiste on April 28th from 11:30am-1:00pm. The lecture is free, but space is limited. Bring your own brown bag lunch. For reservations or questions, contact Cane River NHA at 318-356-5555.
Cane River National Heritage Area, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization that manages the congressionally designated Cane River National Heritage Area. Its mission is to preserve and promote the cultural and natural resources of Cane River and encourage economic development by strengthening heritage tourism in the region.