Archives and Special Collections

The Fletcher Lecture Series (1985-Present)

The Fletcher Lecture Series is an annually-celebrated event in which a renowned scholar travels to Nicholls State University to give a presentation on their life-long works and achievements as well as the struggles that they had to overcome to get to where they are today. The purpose of the lecture is to inspire young writers to keep pursuing their dream, whether it be to become a best-selling novelist, an award-winning film director, or a poet whose verses have stimulated thousands across the globe. The Fletcher Lecture Series began in 1985, with its pioneer lectors being Robert Penn Warren and his wife, Eleanor Clark. This lecture series was established as a memoriam to Marie Fletcher, who spent fifty-two years in service to the academic community. 

Marie Fletcher: A Short Biography

Marie Fletcher devoted her life to the teaching of American literature. After receiving her undergraduate degree in English from Northwestern State in 1938, she taught for ten years in the secondary school system, first in Verda, the North Louisiana town where she was born, and later in Lake Charles. During this time, she began graduate studies, completing the M.A. in English at Louisiana State University in 1944. In 1948, she became a charter member of the faculty of Nicholls Junior College and continued her tenure at Nicholls through its transition from a junior college to a state university, receiving her Ph.D. in 1963 from Louisiana State University.

After teaching at Northwestern for four years, Dr. Fletcher returned to Nicholls, eventually serving during the 1970s as acting head, then head of the Department of English. […] Her dedicated service to the University and to her community led to her receiving distinguished service awards from the Louisiana Council of Teachers of English in 1975 and from the Nicholls Alumni Federation in 1981.

Retiring as Professor Emeritus in 1980, Dr. Fletcher continued to teach part-time and to play an active role in community and professional organizations until her death in 1983. The Marie Fletcher Distinguished  Service Award, presented annually to deserving Nicholls faculty or administrators, and the Fletcher Lecture Series in American Literature, held annually, serve to honor a woman who was both a mentor and scholar, both teacher and friend to many.

Photograph of Marie Fletcher taken during her time of service at Nicholls.

The Fletcher Lecture Series Programs

Click on each cover of the Fletcher Lecture program to view additional photographs. For additional information and resources, please visit the Ellender Memorial Library Archives and Special Collections.

The Fletcher Lecture Chef's Benefit (1984-2002)

When the first Fletcher Lecture committee met in 1984, there were no funds to compensate the lector for their time, travel, and lodging. The committee had to come up with a creative and effective way to raise money on their own. They then made the decision to invite a well-known chef to campus to host a chef’s benefit. The chef does not get paid for hosting the benefit but gives a true donation of his/her time, labor, money, and resources. Tickets for the benefit sold for $50 per person since the first Fletcher Chef’s Benefit in 1984. This appealed to many people because they were getting a quality gourmet meal for half the price that it would cost in a restaurant. Up to two hundred tickets were sold annually until its last occasion in 2002.

Before the presentation and meal, guests at the Chef's Benefit would mingle while enjoying a glass of wine.

The Chef's Benefit Programs/Recipes Pamphlets

Click on the cover image to view the inside of the program.The programs consist of various recipes—including appetizers, entrees, and desserts—which have been expertly perfected by chefs across Louisiana who have participated in the Fletcher Lecture Chef's Benefit. For additional information and resources, please visit the Ellender Memorial Library Archives and Special Collections. 

~Macy Trosclair, Contributor