Louisiana Tech University’s history department will co-host a talk, “How to Own All the Cotton in the World: William P. Brown and Cotton Futures Trading in New Orleans at the Turn of the Century” by Dr. Bruce Baker of Newcastle University, U.K. The talk will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 14 at the Lincoln Parish Library.  All interested parties are invited to attend. This talk, drawn from Dr. Baker’s new book “The Cotton Kings: Capitalism and Corruption in Turn-of-the-Century New York and New Orleans,” co-authored with Barbara Hahn, explains how former Ruston resident William P. Brown earned millions of dollars by cornering the world supply of cotton in 1903.  His actions eventually led to the Cotton Futures Act of 1914, the first successful government regulation of a financial derivative. Baker, who earned his doctorate degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, specializes in the history of the American South.  A prolific scholar, his previous books include “What Reconstruction Meant: Historical Memory in the American South” and “After Slavery: Race, Labor and Citizenship in the Reconstruction South.”  His latest study examines the origins of the term “Tar Heel” and traces how it became the popular nickname for North Carolinians. Baker’s talk is jointly sponsored by the Louisiana Tech history department, the Louisiana Tech chapter of the American Association of University Women, the Lincoln Parish Library and the Lambda-Rho chapter of the Phi Alpha Theta history honor society. For additional information, contact Dr. David M. Anderson, an associate professor of history at 318-257-2872 or by email at history@latech.edu.  The event is free and open to the public. Written by Judith Roberts – jroberts@latech.edu