Third Thursday Lecture Series 2026

We’ve been renewed for a second season of the Third Thursday Lecture Series!

Third Thursday Lecture Series

In the Spring of 2025, Author extraordinaire and baseball scholar Derby Gisclair asked me if I’d join him in pitching a series of History lectures to the Jefferson Parish Library. I gladly agreed. Chris Smith at JPL thought it was a good idea, and off we went. We presented five lectures from July to November. Library patrons and locals enjoyed the series and Chris invited us back for 2026.

The Rundown

Here’s our 2026 Presentation Schedule:

MONTH	TOPIC	PRESENTER
JANUARY 15	An Affair of Honor	Derby Gisclair
FEBRUARY 19	The Allard Plantation	Edward Branley
MARCH 19	Makin’ Groceries	Derby and Edward
APRIL 16	Gamblers Afloat	Derby Gisclair
MAY 21	Independent Louisiana	Edward Branley
JUNE 18	Famous New Orleanians	Derby and Edward (Books for sale)
JULY 16	Civil War Espionage	Derby Gisclair
AUGUST 20	Boyd Cruise – Artist, Teacher, Curator	Edward Branley
SEPTEMBER 17	Shopping Centers	Derby and Edward
OCTOBER 15	Beyond Storyville	Derby Gisclair
NOVEMBER 19	Krauss, Trains & Storyville	Edward Branley
DECEMBER 17	Spanish Fort	Derby adn Edward (Books for sale)

January’s Lecture

Derby kicks off the 2026 series on January 15, with An Affair of Honor:

Dueling was once a popular means of settling disputes and New Orleans was the dueling capital of the United States having become deeply embedded in the city’s social fabric from its colonial days through the 19th century. And the concept of mortal combat – whether it is Robert Taylor as Ivanhoe jousting five of Prince John’s knights one by one, or Gary Cooper as Marshall Kane facing off against the outlaw Frank Miller in High Noon, or Mel Gibson’s Mad Max fighting Master Blaster in the dystopian futuristic Thunderdome — what ties these scenes together is the mythic quality of the duel. It’s not just about violence—it’s about identity, spectacle, and the illusion of control in a chaotic world. In this presentation, author and historian Derby Gisclair traces the history of dueling in New Orleans and describes some of the more unusual duels that took place.

Location

All Third Thursday Lectures will be presented at the East Bank Regional Branch of the Jefferson Parish Library, 4747 W. Napoleon Avenue (just off Clearview Parkway), in Metairie.