NSU professors bring American history, 60s counterculture to life for students

NATCHITOCHES - Dr. Charles Pellegrin, professor of history at Northwestern State University, always concludes his U.S. History 1945-1968 class with a study of U.S. counterculture and the anti-war movement. This semester, he partnered with Elizabeth Guy Lofton, costume shop manager in the School of Creative and Performing Arts, to give students a little something extra on the last day of class.

Earlier this year, Pellegrin stumbled across a video of The Association, the 1960s Los Angeles-based band known for their hits "Never My Love," "Cherish" and "Along Came Mary," performing on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1969. On the show, vocalist/musician Terry Kirkman sang lead vocals on "Seven Man Band."

It gave Pellegrin an idea.

He reached out to Lofton requesting she work with him on a project for the last day of class.

Pellegrin, a recognized researcher and lecturer, has been on faculty at NSU since 2004 teaching American history, Louisiana history, world history, U.S. military history, the history of modern China and modern Japan and the history of U.S. foreign relations. He is director of NSU's Southern Studies Institute and is editor of the acclaimed "Southern Studies' An Interdisciplinary Journal of the South."

As a surprise for students, Pellegrin appeared in class wearing a partial recreation of Kirkman's outfit, a fringed American Indian-inspired vest with bead details. 

"It captures a particular era that a lot of us are familiar with because of the music and the dress," Pellegrin said.

Lofton went to work, getting Pellegrin's measurement and studying The Association's performance on youtube. Based on the visual, she drafted a custom pattern and ordered rust colored suede fabric, leather cording, beads and a blank chest plate. 

Lofton graduated from NSU in December 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in theater with a concentration in design and technology. She specialized in costume design and technology and started working as Costume Shop Manager in January 2020.

"I used my pattern to construct the base of the tunic," Lofton said. "Once I had the base sewn together, I used stills from the YouTube video to reference the placement and amount of leather tassels needed to add to the shoulders and chest, as well as the placement and corresponding color of the beads on each tassel. Once those were strung with beads, I attached them to each shoulder and began work on the chest piece."

The chest piece, the main focus of the vest in the middle of the tunic, depicts the image of a phoenix.

"I knew this would be a very important addition to the tunic, so I spent time drafting a pattern to hand paint this on a wooden canvas that I covered with matching suede," Lofton said. "Once attached to the base of the tunic, the last step was to add the remaining leather tassels that hung down from the chest plate. Then it was time to bring in Dr. Pellegrin for a final fitting."

"I enjoyed this project so much," Lofton said. "It was fun to go from a still of a video all the way from 1969 to a wearable replica for today. This was a fun collaboration, and I hope we can continue to have more like this in the future."

Dr. Charles Pellegrin:
To give his students a taste of hippie counterculture, Dr. Charles Pellegrin worked with costume designer Elizabeth Lofton to recreate a vest worn by musician Terry Kirkman on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1969. From left are Cameron Remry, Katie Grace Rian, Mason Nugent, Pellegrin, Ezra Jett and Grace Lemoine.

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