THIBODAUX — Nicholls State University continues its annual Bonnie Bourg Lecture Series Thursday with a discussion of a 1929 Morgan City murder case that led to Louisiana’s first hanging of a woman.
Retired Nicholls librarian Fran Middleton will deliver her “Justice Denied: The Dreher-LeBoeuf Case” lecture at 10:30 a.m. March 10 in Bollinger Memorial Student Union’s Le Bijou Theater on the Nicholls campus. The lecture includes an analysis of the historic case’s three defendants — Dr. Thomas Dreher, a prominent physician; Ada LeBoeuf, Dreher’s mistress; and James Beadle, Dreher’s handyman and the alleged gunman — and the circumstances that led up to the murder of LeBoeuf’s husband, James LeBoeuf. In addition, Middleton will discuss the ensuing trial and executions.
Following Middleton’s lecture, a guest panel will offer additional commentary. Gene Gouaux, Nicholls business law instructor, will discuss how the legal system shaped the Dreher-LeBoeuf case; Felicia LeDuff Harry, retired Nicholls assistant mass communication professor, will analyze print media coverage; and Marcus Montet, great-nephew of Ada LeBoeuf, will provide insight into the case’s impact on LeBoeuf’s family.
Lecture admission is free and open to the public.
