Center for History and Culture
of Southeast Texas and the Upper Gulf Coast
Founded in 2016 by Dr. Mary Scheer as one 海角社区’s “Visionary Initiatives,” the Center serves the many constituencies of 海角社区 students and faculty, the communities of Southeast Texas and the greater Gulf Coast, and the scholars and creatives who explore the region’s past and present. The Center promotes the study of these regions with a commitment to multicultural, interdisciplinary, collaborative, and community-focused projects.
The Center hosts programs that highlight the work of artists, authors, scholars, community leaders, and others who represent varied specializations and backgrounds. It also awards two annual book prizes and funds original research, creativity, and community outreach through its fellowship program.
March 6, 2025
The Price They Paid with Dr. Jeff Forret.
6:00 pm, Tyrrell Historical Library (695 Pearl St, Beaumont, TX 77701).
Dr. Jeff Forret, Professor of History and Assistant Director of the Center, will talk about his new book, The Price They Paid: Slavery, Shipwrecks, and Reparations before the Civil War, published by the New Press. Dr. Forret will be available to sign copies and answer questions. From the publisher: "In 1831, the American ship Comet, carrying 165 enslaved men, women, and children, crashed onto a coral reef in the Bahamas, then part of the British Empire. Shortly afterward, the Vice Admiralty Court in Nassau, over the outraged objections of the ship’s captain, set the rescued captives free. American slave owners and the companies who insured the liberated human cargo would spend years lobbying for reparations from Great Britain, not for the emancipated slaves, of course, but for the masters deprived of their human property." Refreshments provided. Free and open to the public.