The LSU Manship School of Mass Communication will celebrate the life and work of acclaimed journalist Stanley Nelson at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, October 22, at Louisiana’s Old State Capitol.

Nelson, a longtime editor of the Concordia Sentinel, Pulitzer Prize finalist and adjunct professor at LSU, passed away in June at the age of 69. During his career, he investigated unsolved Civil Rights-era murders and wrote over 150 stories exposing racial violence in Ferriday and Natchez. He became a Pulitzer Prize finalist for local reporting in 2011 for his investigative work unraveling a 1964 murder and other related unsolved murders in Louisiana.

Nelson penned two books about the Louisiana Civil Rights-era cold cases: Devils Walking: Klan Murders Along the Mississippi River in the 1960s and Klan of Devils: The Murder of a Black Louisiana Deputy Sheriff.

His work brought justice and closure, inspiring countless journalists, including novelist Greg Iles, who drew inspiration from Nelson’s investigation to write the Natchez Burning trilogy.

Many of the prominent national journalists who worked with Nelson plan to speak about him at the October 22 event alongside former students and families of victims.

This event is open to the public. Learn more and reserve your ticket here.