The University of Mississippi: A Pictorial History

The University of Mississippi

The University of Mississippi A Pi c t o r i A l Hi s t o r y

G e r A l d W. W A lt o n

Publication of

The University of Mississippi was made possible in part by the following:

Š 2008 by The Booksmith Group All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher.

Published in the United States of America by The Booksmith Group an imprint of a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwestern/Great American, Inc. P.O. Box 305142 Nashville, TN 37230 1-800-358-0560 www.thebooksmithgroup.com

ISBN: 978-1-934892-15-2 ISBN: 978-1-934892-16-9 (Deluxe) Library of Congress Control Number: 2008931979 Publisher: Stephen D. Giddens Managing Editor: Jennifer Dawn Day Project Manager and Editor: Leslie Peterson Associate Editor: Heidi L. T. Tuey Book Design: Kimberly Sagmiller, VisibilityCreative.com Cover Photo: Robert Jordan, Ole Miss Imaging Services Photography: Stephen Gardner, PixelWorksStudio.net; Ole Miss Imaging Services; Ole Miss Alumni Review; Ole Miss; The Daily Mississippian; and University Archives

Printed in the United States of America First printing 2008

Dedication

To Julie, for support, understanding, advice, tolerance, patience, and, most of all, her love; and to the three greatest daughters a father could have: Katherine, Dorothy, and Margaret.

“Unquestionably, the University of Mississippi has a spirit, an atmosphere, all its own. It possesses something close akin to personality; somewhat as every man, to the extent that he is a man, has personality. Why, every place even, of historic or traditional interest, glows with local color. Every home has its sacred associations, its peculiar charms. Every school breathes a characteristic atmosphere. A man without individuality is a nonentity. A place without memories is merely a matter of latitude and longitude. A home without affection is an impossibility. And a school without the impress of some strong personalities, without something of family feeling, is not the ideal school, and is sadly lacking in a very important factor.�

–Alfred Hume

Table of

Contents

Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................xiii To the Reader ..........................................................................................................xix CHAPTER ONE: The Dream Is Realized (Birth to 1865) .....................................1 CHAPTER TWO: An Uneasy Recovery (1865–1891) ..........................................25 CHAPTER THREE: An Era of Firsts (1892–1914) ..............................................47 CHAPTER FOUR: Politics, Conflicts, and Scandals (1914–1924) ......................79 CHAPTER FIVE: The Good Times Come Crashing Down (1924–1932) .........103 CHAPTER SIx: The Hits Keep Coming (1932–1945) .......................................133 CHAPTER SEVEN: Dark Days and Silver Linings (1946–1968) .....................169 CHAPTER EIGHT: Turning the Corner (1968–1984) .......................................211 CHAPTER NINE: On a Roll (1984–1995) ..........................................................245 CHAPTER TEN: A New Dawning (1995 to Present) .........................................267 Afterword ..............................................................................................................340 Chancellors ...........................................................................................................343 Notes .....................................................................................................................344 Abbreviations ........................................................................................................347 APPENDIx Buildings and Monuments .........................................................................348 Alumni Hall of Fame ..................................................................................378 Outstanding Teachers of the Year ..............................................................386 Barnard Distinguished Professors .............................................................389 Outstanding Staff Members .......................................................................390 Rhodes Scholars .........................................................................................391 Sports Halls of Fame ..................................................................................393

The face of the Lyceum clock has “Class of 1927� etched on it.

It is four and a half feet in diameter and was once connected to the Lyceum bell and rang on the hour and half hour. (ASC)

Acknowledgments I begin by accepting full responsibility for all of the errors, misjudgments, and omissions in this work. I hasten to add, however, that there would have been far more errors had it not been for several people who painstakingly read all or some of the work, caught errors, asked appropriate questions, and made helpful suggestions. My wife (Julie) and Leone King, who was a loyal and dedicated assistant to two chancellors and has an in-depth knowledge of the university, read every chapter. Ann Abadie, Sabrina Brown, Sally Lyon, Margaret Seicshnaydre, and Renna Teuten read much of the work. I extend to them my sincere gratitude.

I thank Chancellor Khayat for his continuing support, for his outstanding leadership, and for a personal friendship that began when we both arrived at the university in September 1956. I also had the privilege of working under, and getting to know, Chancellors J. D. Williams, Porter Fortune, and Gerald Turner and appreciate their support of me and my efforts.

Provost Carolyn Staton has provided the necessary financial support for this project, and I will remain indebted to her. I am also grateful to Vice Chancellor Gloria Kellum, who has figuratively held my hand as I worked through the various problems associated with a project of this type. Associate Vice Chancellor Jeff Alford has spent much of his time assisting me in many ways, including selecting the publisher and working as the university’s liaison with the publisher, helping secure photographs, answering my questions, asking authors to write essays, and suggesting chapter titles.

Sabrina Brown often ends her e-mail messages with this quotation from Daniel Schoor: “Nobody should get into print or on the air without some kind of editor. I have an institutional belief that nobody can be above having a good editor.� Sabrina demonstrated the wisdom of the quotation by her work with the first chapter of this work. Leslie Peterson demonstrated it further. She dutifully answered my hundreds of e-mail inquiries, gave order and focus to the disorganized materials I sent her, answered hundreds of questions, gave expert advice, showed endless patience, prevented numerous errors, demonstrated perspective, improved my prose and made it much more readable, and made decisions I could not make about what to include or exclude.

I thank Steve Giddens, president and publisher of The Booksmith Group for taking on this project and guiding it to completion. Managing Editor Jennifer Day, with expert assistance from Associate Editor Heidi Tuey, shaped up the entire project, dealt with me kindly, and took care of the many follow-through essentials. Carra Hewitt was extremely helpful with early design and layout recommendations. Designer Kim Sagmiller took on that job for Booksmith; her skill, knowledge, and good judgment are demonstrated throughout.

xiii

Photographer Stephen Gardner, whose superb shots of the campus and Oxford add tremendously, photographed much of the campus during Homecoming 2007.

Dean of Libraries John Meador gave me office space in the J. D. Williams Library at the University of Mississippi after I retired, and Provost Carolyn Staton has taken care of supplies and equipment. Dean Julia Rholes allowed me to stay in the library after she became dean. The convenient location contributed greatly to my ability to complete the project. Director of Archives and Special Collections Thomas Verich supported the project and allowed access to the collection of university history items; after Dr. Verich retired, Director Jennifer Ford continued that interest and practice. Jennifer Aronson, Shugana Campbell, and Sharon Sarthou patiently brought me boxes of photographs, scanned photographs for me, and answered my numerous questions. Jeffrey Boyce, Chatham Ewing, Greg Johnson, Leigh McWhite, Lisa Speer, Audrey Uffner, and John Wall, in Archives and Special Collections, were of immense help. In fact, every person in the library whom I asked for assistance was gracious and cooperative. Albert Speareth and Bill Griffith allowed me access to photographs in the university museum.

My longtime friend and colleague T. J. Ray has spent numerous hours scanning hundreds of university photographs and graciously allowed me to use any I wished to use and shared his knowledge of university history. Lee Bolen, Kevin Herrera, Penny Rice, and Amelia Rodgers Robbins helped with technical matters. Martha Bowles was my invaluable secretary for almost twenty years; if she had remained as my secretary after retirement, this work would have been completed years earlier. I am obligated in many ways to persons in the provost’s office, especially William Oliphant, Brenda Brannan, Shirley Pegues, and Ginger Newsome.

While I failed to keep a list of the many persons who provided assistance, and while I was not able to use a great deal of the information or the photographs, I wish at least to acknowledge many who offered help: Clay Jones, Betty Barron, Sharon Jones, June Lemons, and Mary (MeMe) Mullen for personnel information; Charlotte Fant, Sandra Kennedy, and Priscilla Melton for student enrollment information; Mark Coltrain, Lydia Hailman, Renna Teuten, and Maarten Zeis for scanning photographs and doing other helpful chores; Jim Urbanek for permission to use photographs from the Ole Miss Alumni Review and Rachel Donahue for information about alumni; Traci Mitchell for permission to use photographs from the Ole Miss and The Daily Mississippian; Johnette Carwyle, Jason Dean, Dewey Garner, Reggie Holley, Sparky Reardon, Judy Trott, and Ben Williams for information about fraternities and sororities; Robert Jordan, Loidha Castillo, Shelia Burt, and Huston Ladner in Imaging Services for much assistance.

The cover photo was taken by Robert Jordan. Jordan writes: “I have been photographing the Ole Miss campus for twenty-four years. I have photographed the campus at dawn, sunset, midday, and midnight, spring, summer, fall, and winter and I am not sure I have ever managed to adequately capture its unique beauty.” He was also the photographer of many of the photographs labeled “IS.” Other Imaging Service photographers whose works are included are Kevin Bain, Charles Briscoe, Joe Ellis, and Nathan Latil.

Many students, faculty, and staff responded to an e-mail inquiry about what a pictorial history should include. Although space did not allow inclusion of all of the items suggested,

xiv

I read each suggestion with care and appreciation. Numerous others answered questions, helped locate photographs, supplied information, gave advice, and offered support. Some of them are Bill Anderson, Tim Angle, Marie Baker, Ian Banner, Kathy Bates, Debbie Binkley, Vasser Bishop, Kristi Boggan, Kay Bray, Bonnie Brown, Catherine Brummett, Denny Buchanan, Maralyn Bullion, Bill Bunting, Mary Carruth, Clay Cavett, Donna Chappell, Linda Christian, Don Cole, Harter Crutcher, Bonnie Curtis, Jay D’Abramo, Jimmy Davis, Sam Davis, Mitchell Diggs, Laura Diven-Brown, Ricky Douglas, Greg Easson, Emily Efferson, Steven Estock, Tommy Etheridge, Lauradella Foulkes-Levy, Jonathan Fenno, Britt Fitts, Lib Fortune, Charlie Gates, Kathy Gates, Sandra Guest, Del Hawley, Lee Hendrick, Ray Highsmith, Barbara Hoggard ,Cliff Holley, Charles Hufford, Clayton Anderson James, Michael Johansson, Lynette Johnson, Bubby Johnston, Sue Keiser, Bill Kingery, Sandra Kennedy, Barbara Lago, Connie Lamb, Will Lewis, Jr., Kim Ling, Cynthia Linton, Johnny and Ruby Logan, Thelma Mays, Dorothy McCorkle, Ken McGraw, Annie Mitchell, Rod Moorhead, Andy Mullins, Meghan Oswalt, Conny Parham, Ginger Patterson, Donna Patton, Rusty Pinion, Elaine Pugh, Larry Ridgeway, Langston Rogers, Pam Roy, Robby Seitz, Judee Showalter, John Sobotka, Linda Spargo, Larry Sparks, Seetha Srinivasan, Jim Stafford, Charles Swan, Julien Tatum, Mary Taylor, Sam Thomas, Kathy Tidwell, Gerald Turner, Jim Vaughan, Thomas Wallace, Scott Wallace, Tim Walsh, Sam Wang, Virginia Webb, Stan Whitehorn, Nancy Wicker, James Williams, David Willson, Lance Yarbrough, and Patricia Young.

Although the essays were not my idea, and I did not ask the writers to do them, I thank Jennifer Day for the idea, Jeff Alford for making the requests of the writers, and all of the writers for their excellent additions: Donald Kartiganer, Carole Lynn Meadows, Sparky Reardon, Lee Eric Smith, Robin Street, and Douglass Sullivan-González.

Comments on Photographs Included The university has been unusually fortunate in having gifted and distinguished faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends. I thus began this project by naively collecting photographs of and preparing brief biographies of well over a thousand deserving folks—vice chancellors, deans and other administrators, Student Hall of Fame members, editors, ASB presidents, head coaches, award-winning faculty and staff, presidents of the Alumni Association and foundation, Lyceum and Barnard Society members, and numerous distinguished alumni. As the editors began to point out that I clearly could not include them all, I was faced with an all-or-none decision; I was too close to the situation, at least during the last half century, to make decisions on whom not to include. I therefore accepted a recommendation that I allow someone with no connection to or little knowledge of the university to select a small number of representatives. Every benefactor, faculty member, administrator, staff person, alumni, and student is a critical part of our story. I hope this tribute to our great institution honors you all. Some of you will at least be included in yearbook-like appendices.

Likewise, I began with a goal of documenting all major events, buildings, and monuments.

Once again, the editors pointed to space limitations but at least allowed me to include an insert, with smaller photographs than I had hoped for, of all of what one editor called my “precious buildings.”

xv

The Delta Gamma alumni, whose sorority began at a girls’ boarding school in Oxford, wanted to do something to memorialize the University Greys and began saving for a memorial window in the library. They did not have enough money, and the Alumni Association came to their aid. An order to the Tiffany Glass company was placed on July 23, 1889. The window contains three scenes. The one on the right, as viewed from inside the building, shows University Greys in formation in their Confederate uniforms. Barnard Observatory is in the background. Oxford women and children are saying goodbye.

The middle picture is of Confederate and Union soldiers with guns and swords on the battlefield. Flags are waving. Dead and wounded lie on the ground. The third pictures young soldiers at the surrender at Appomattox. (ASC)

Below the window on the right is a picture with two crossed swords surrounded by a laurel wreath. Underneath the swords is another panel with the inscription “Cum pietate Alumnorum.” These words follow: “In honor of those, who, with ardent valor and patriotic devotion in the Civil War, sacrificed their lives in defense of principles and inherited from their fathers and strengthened by the teaching of their Alma Mater, this memorial is lovingly dedicated.” At the bottom of the middle window is a small panel with the words “To the Brave.” Underneath is pictured a Delta Gamma pin. The Delta Gamma badge is under the large panel on the left. (ASC)

To the Reader During its 160 years, the University of Mississippi has played a major part in the history of higher education in the state and region. Alfred Hume, John Waddel, Edward Mayes, Allen Cabaniss, Frank Moak, and David Sansing have provided excellent written histories. This publication represents an attempt to accompany their works, especially Sansing’s superb sesquicentennial history, with illustrative photographs.

Depending on when you were here, when you think of the university, your mind’s eye may focus on many different things: a Coke date at Tom and Spiro’s, a cheer led by Blind Jim, a mathematics class under Dr. Hume or a Shakespeare class under Dr. Bishop, an afternoon at Sardis Lake, a party at the Tea Hound, the Grill for a burger or coffee or a card game or even a dance to the juke box, a special train trip to LSU, a meal at the Mansion or Grundy’s, a pass from a Charlie or a Jake or an Archie or an Eli, a Brackeen hook shot, a pajama party on the square, a stroll through the Grove or through Bailey Woods, VP, Brother Jim, a movie at the Lyric or the Ritz, freshman English in the Graduate Building, German under Dr. Eickhorst, a dance or a concert or registration in the gym, an Artist Series program or an ODK-Mortar Board speaker in Fulton Chapel, cheesecake at the Hoka, a fraternity or sorority party, the beauty of the Lyceum in the early morning, Taylor Medals being awarded to your friends, Dean Guess’s Sunday school class, an opera in the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, a picnic at Rowan Oak, a service in the Paris-Yates chapel, a game of ping pong in the Y, pecan pie and vanilla ice cream in the old cafeteria, graduation in the Grove.

The list could go on and on. That’s what makes a book of this nature such a challenge, and such a joy. Within the pages of this book I have tried to create and compile not only a history of the university but a history of your individual days on campus. I hope that as you thumb through the pages of this pictorial you will smile, laugh, and remember. I hope the past will come alive in your heart and mind.

xix

Birth to 1865

The University of Mississippi was for years a dream in the hearts of many.

Birth to

1865 Chapter One The Dream Is Realized

T

The University of Mississippi was for years a dream in the hearts of many. Well before Mississippi achieved statehood in 1817 there was a recognized need for a state university.

But it would take many years and much political maneuvering before the campus came into being. There were problems related to the whims and desires of governors and other state officials and politicians, the funding of Jefferson College near Natchez, lack of money available from the seminary fund, American Indian land cessions, the failure of the Planters Bank, and other obstacles. It wasn’t until the mid-1830s that most of these roadblocks were overcome and serious attention could be given to such matters as selecting a location for a state university.

A lack of consensus regarding that location contributed to the delay. Over the years, governors Charles Lynch, Alexander McNutt, and Albert Gallatin Brown all expressed their support of a university—all without results. It took a resolution authored by state legislator James Alexander Ventress in 1840, requiring the selection of seven sites for consideration, before any major inroads were made.

Legislators responded by nominating an astounding forty-six places. After six trips to the ballot box, the list was narrowed to seven possibilities: Mississippi City, Kosciusko, Monroe Missionary Station, Middleton, Louisville, Brandon, and Oxford.

The UniversiTy of Mississippi

In hopes Oxford would rule the day, commissioners had already conditionally purchased land from John Martin and James Stockard. But Mississippians were subjected to six more ballots (and a good deal of politicking) throughout 1841 before “Oxford was duly and constitutionally selected as a site for the location of the State University.”1 Governor Brown said,

“

The day which witnesses the completion of this magnificent temple of learning will be a brilliant one in the annals of

Mississippi. It will be regarded as the dawning of a new era in

the history of letters, and as such will be hailed with joy by the

”

friends of science throughout the nation.

GeorGe F. Holmes was born in British Guiana in 1821. He graduated from the University of Durham in England and came to North America in 1838. After teaching in Quebec, Virginia, Georgia, and South Carolina, he was admitted to the bar in Virginia. He then taught at Richmond College and at the college of William and Mary (he knew John Millington there and very likely influenced Millington to come to the university). He published widely in such journals as the Southern Literary Messenger and the Southern Quarterly Review.

At the age of twenty-eight he was selected as the first president of the University of Mississippi. As a young idealist, he found it difficult to deal with the university students, who were generally rowdy and unprepared for college work. What he might have done will remain forever a mystery, for his daughter became ill, and Holmes and his family left the university for Virginia in the spring of 1849, where Holmes also became ill. Unaware of Holmes’s plans to return (he had written that he had “fallen a sacrifice to accident, and illness, and untoward events” but his letter was never received by the college), the board declared the position vacant. And thus the first president of the University of Mississippi lasted for less than one year in that position.

Understandably disappointed, Holmes farmed in Virginia until, in 1857, he joined the faculty of the University of Virginia, where he published more books and articles and served with distinction for forty years until his death in 1897. (ASC)

2

2

Birth to 1865: The Dream Is Realized There was still a ways to go. Many in the state did not want a publicly supported institution.

The seminary funds were nearly depleted following the failure of the Union and Planters banks, with many believing the two banks had stolen the funds. And even after Oxford was chosen, there were continual fights about putting the university elsewhere.

Nevertheless, momentum slowly built over the next few years. In 1844 thirteen people were appointed to a board of trustees. They held their first meeting in Jackson on January 15, 1845, and named William Nichols architect. Nichols wasted no time; construction of several buildings (the Lyceum, two dormitories, two faculty residences, and a steward’s hall) began in 1846. At an elaborate ceremony, the Lyceum cornerstone was laid on July 14, 1846. Attorney Williams Stearns, who would become the university’s first law professor in 1854, said of the moment:

“

This beautiful, healthy, and fertile spot has been selected as the site of a university: abundant means have been

appropriated to erect the necessary buildings . . . . Let this

institution succeed and no man can estimate how many poets,

”

orators, statesmen, divines may here be formed.

3

With construction underway, the board members’ thoughts turned to who would best lead the university. August Baldwin Longstreet had appeared to be the leading contender for the presidency, but there were those who disliked the idea of Longstreet—an ordained minister— holding a position of power in a state institution. The job went instead to George Frederick Holmes, a professor of history and political economy at William and Mary College.

Construction on the university buildings was finally finished, and on November 6, 1848, the school opened. By the end of the term eighty young men had enrolled (for the most part from northern Mississippi).

3

The UniversiTy of Mississippi

Although spirits were high in terms of the university’s long-awaited birth, it was an extremely difficult year for Holmes and the other three professors—Alfred Bledsoe, John Waddel, and John Millington:

“

When the first session opened, some of the classrooms

were without desks, chairs, and benches, the board had not ordered textbooks, the University had no library, and the two dormitories were overflowing.

”

4

The students—some as young as sixteen and very few with decent high school educations—were ill prepared and generally not very serious about their studies. Waddel wrote that they were “disorderly and turbulent . . . idle, uncultivated, viciously disposed, and ungovernable.”5 In fact, the biggest problem by far was discipline, with minutes from early faculty meetings showing far more time spent on reprimanding students than dealing with matters of curriculum. Public drunkenness, obscene language, physical altercations, repeated absences, and other vices were common, and faculty members were required to maintain order in the dormitories. By the end of the first term only forty-seven students were still enrolled, with the rest expelled, withdrawn, or simply vanished from the campus without word.

The unexpected loss of President Holmes didn’t help matters. Because of illnesses in his family, Holmes left the campus in the spring of 1849. Although the leave was temporary and he fully intended to return, a letter from him to that effect was never delivered to Board President Alexander Clayton. So the board chose to name Professor Bledsoe acting president.

Later that year A. B. Longstreet was selected to permanently fill the position. He served with much success, bringing needed stability to the university: entrance exams were

4

Birth to 1865: The Dream Is Realized required, the honor system was strengthened, specific hours were established for study, and strict disciplinary laws were put into effect. But after a six-year term, Longstreet resigned his position in 1856.

Most expected the faithful John Waddel to be named president. Once again there was a surprise: Frederick Barnard, who had joined the faculty in 1854, was chosen. Waddel immediately tendered his resignation and left the university in 1857 for a position elsewhere. (He would later say he hadn’t really wanted the presidency at that time, but few believed him.)

The scholarly and energetic Barnard was a remarkably successful president. He let it be known that his intention was to make the university one of the very best in the nation, and as a former science professor he focused on that discipline in particular. John Millington, who had brought much of his scientific equipment with him, assisted. Between the two of them, they added about five hundred pieces of valuable scientific instruments to the university’s collection (more than two hundred of which are now on display on the campus).

AuGustus BAldwin lonGstreet was born in Georgia in 1790. He graduated from Yale College in 1813 (Yale granted him an honorary LLD in 1841) and studied law in Connecticut; he was admitted to the bar in Georgia in 1815. He served in the Georgia legislature and was later a legislator and Superior Court judge. He was a prolific writer (his best-known work is Georgia Scenes, published in 1841) and as an accomplished orator he drew large crowds when he spoke. He became a minister and was widely recognized as one of the bestknown Methodist ministers in the southeast.

He was president of both Emory College and Centenary College before becoming president of the University of Mississippi in 1849. He probably would have been the university’s first president had not one of the board members opposed his appointment because he was a minister. When he resigned his position in 1856 to become president of the University of South Carolina, he was given an honorary doctor of divinity degree by the university.

After the Civil War he returned to Oxford and lived there until his death in 1870. (ASC)

5

The UniversiTy of Mississippi

Although Barnard was a scientist, his interest generally lay in “the liberally educated man,” and he often exhorted the importance of foreign languages, history, ethics, political economy, and natural philosophy, to name a few disciplines. He spoke at length of a university “embracing in the ultimate design, of course, every possible subject of human learning or human investigation.”6 Barnard also focused on the students themselves. He gave the students more liberties while advocating a firm system of student discipline. He supported literary organizations and secured funding for a gymnasium for athletic pursuits. He also tightened admissions standards but still advocated preparatory courses. And he asked the board to give more governing power to the president and faculty.

In 1857, at the end of his first year in office, Barnard penned a long and persuasive “Letter to the Honorable Board of Trustees,” making specific requests for the university. He knew the letter would be circulated throughout the state. Indeed it was, and in response, the board accepted many of his recommendations: some new positions were added, the title

Frederick AuGustus Porter BArnArd, a native of Massachusetts, graduated from Yale College in 1826. After teaching in New England, he became a professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at the University of Alabama in 1838 and taught there until 1854. He accepted a position at the University of Mississippi in 1854 as professor of mathematics, physics, and civil engineering, later teaching chemistry as well. When Longstreet resigned in 1856, Barnard was named to replace him.

Barnard convinced the board of trustees that the university could be one of the best in the nation and worked with them in securing substantial funding from the Mississippi Legislature. He was beginning to see some results of his hard work and persuasion—scientific apparatus, a new observatory to house the largest telescope in the world, a magnetic observatory—when the Civil War broke out. When he left the university after it closed because of the war, the board gave him an honorary doctor of divinity degree.

After leaving the university, Barnard worked in the Washington, D. C., area before becoming president of Columbia University in 1864. Barnard College is named in his memory. While at Columbia, he wrote friends that in spite of difficulties he faced at the University of Mississippi, he remembered his years in Mississippi as happy ones, knowing that he was making a difference in higher education in the state.

Barnard published widely and was recognized internationally for his scholarship. Few people in the country had as high a reputation as a scholar in science and administration. His obituaries pronounced him one of the ablest university presidents in the country. (ASC)

6

Birth to 1865: The Dream Is Realized of president became chancellor, administrative duties were lightened, special appropriations allowed the purchase of equipment, a telescope observatory and the Magnetic Observatory were funded, an addition was made to the back of the Lyceum, and special appropriations were made for books for the library.

Additionally, a boardwalk from the campus to the town of Oxford was completed in 1860.

In the midst of the university’s successes, however, other, more universal interests were brewing. On January 9, 1861, Mississippi seceded from the Union, and students soon became more focused on the war than their studies. Though Chancellor Barnard and others tried to prohibit students from forming a military group, they nevertheless did so; the University Greys were commissioned in February 1861. Almost without exception, the students who did not enlist in the University Greys joined the Lamar Rifles (named for sometime professor L. Q. C. Lamar, who as a congressman drafted the Ordinance of Secession) or went home and joined other units. On May 1, 1861, in lieu of final exams or a graduation ceremony, the University Greys and the Lamar Rifles left the Oxford depot for Corinth.

The university charter was approved on February 24, 1844. (MHJ)

7

The UniversiTy of Mississippi

In the fall of 1861 only four students showed up for classes, and it became clear to board members that the university should close for the duration of the war. Most of the faculty left, though Professors Alexander J. Quinche and Burton Harrison became custodians of the buildings and Dr. Eugene Hilgard was ordered to protect the property belonging to the state-supported Geological Survey. All of the buildings on the campus were used during the war—for military headquarters, a dispensary, hospitals, a mess hall, and similar purposes.

The bodies of soldiers who died in the hospital buildings were taken to the Magnetic Observatory, which came to be called the Dead House. The bodies were then buried at a cemetery on the south end of the campus.

This sketch of the university in 1861 gives no indication of how much the campus would grow over the ensuing years. (Deborah J. T. Freeland)

8

Birth to 1865: The Dream Is Realized Thankfully, in spite of its obvious Confederate tendencies, the university escaped significant harm during the war. General Grant and his troops passed through Oxford in December of 1862 and did very little damage to the buildings—an act for which Barnard, Quinche, and Hilgard have all been given some credit. The town itself didn’t have the same luck; General A. J. Smith reached Oxford in 1864 and on August 22 supervised the burning of much of the town. One Union soldier wrote that Smith ordered troops to burn the university buildings as well. But fate (or common sense) intervened:

“

We now rode over to the State University where we found

‘school out’ . . . . We found the university a model of its kind, well fitted in all its appointments, and a great credit to the State, and as its destruction would in no wise cripple the

enemy, we concluded to disobey Gen. Smith’s instructions, and not burn it . . . we left, and left the University standing.

”

7

On the warfront, the University Greys fought in most of the major battles of the war.

Unfortunately, at the battle at Gettysburg every remaining member of the company was captured, wounded, or killed. None of the survivors ever reenrolled at the university.

School was indeed “out,” but it would open again in a little more than a year.

9

The UniversiTy of Mississippi

Jeremiah Gage:

Letters Home

Jeremiah Gage entered the University of Mississippi in 1857. Bright and attentive to his studies, he studied law, graduating in 1860 and receiving his law degree in 1861. He might have had a long and illustrious career, but fate led him down another path. Soon after receiving his degree, at age twenty-one, Gage enlisted in the Confederate Army under the University Greys. Within a year, he was dead, all his hopes and dreams gone.

We know more about Gage than other students of that time because we have an informal history in his own hand. During his years away from family, he faithfully wrote home, detailing events from daily life at the university and even the warfront.

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Birth to 1865: The Dream Is Realized To his sister he wrote about the difficulties of

his studies:

at sunrise—and immediately I have to attend prayers every morning m six o’clock p.m. until ten after attend recitation. It takes me fro on.1 or eleven at night to get my morning less ld college concern of money:

In 1859 he wrote to his father about the age-o

months board at Mrs. Barrs I have paid my tuition $65.00; one cocoa dippers .50 cts; postage $12.00; State & RR fare $10.00; bought es 20 cts & the remainder of stamps .50 cts; letter paper 1.00; envelop 2 as it will go. far as ks boo my buy to t lef e hav I about $14.00, e his family from the is the faded and blood-stained missive he wrot But perhaps the most poignant letter remaining was wounded. He was assas, Seven Pines, and Gaines Mill, where he battlefield. Gage had been in action at First Man :

wounded again at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863

me. I have time to tell you This is the last you may ever hear from as best you can. Remember that I died like a man. Bear my loss greatest regret at dying is that that I am true to my country and my ers are robbed of my worth she is not free and that you and my sist l reach you and you must not whatever that may be. I hope this wil It is a mere matter of form regret that my body can not be obtained. can not write more. Send my anyhow. This is for my sisters too as I w who. dying release to miss Mary . . . you kno 3 J. S. Gage, Co. A, 11th Miss.

Jeremiah Gage’s letter stands as a testament to the bright young students who left Mississippi to fight for what they believed in and never returned—either to the campus or to their families.

Federal troops occupied the Oxford square.

Businesses, the depot, and some houses were burned during the war.

11

A Campus Is Born

This map shows the state as it was in 1840 and identifies the forty-six places nominated by state legislators to be the home of the university. (Map by Jennifer Ford)

B

irtH to

1865

Members of the board of trustees held their first meeting in Jackson on January 15, 1845. They first discussed the need for bylaws to govern their actions. On January 17, they discussed the proposed bylaws. (BT)

On January 17, 1845, members of the board of trustees agreed on a seal, which would include an eye surrounded by the words “University of Mississippi.� (ASC)

12

B

A University Greys book cover

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First diploma

1865

13

List of student’s names in journal

B

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1865

Record Book of Faculty

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B irtH to

1865

15

People of Influence

Alexander Clayton was the first president of the original board of trustees and was a member of the board on three different occasions.

He was a politician, a judge, and a practicing attorney and farmer in Marshall County.

(ASC)

B

irtH to

1865

James Alexander Ventress was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1835. In 1840 he introduced a bill to establish the university. He was a member of the first board of trustees. In 1938 he was named Father of the University by the Mississippi legislature.

Ventress Hall is named in his memory. (ASC)

Governor A. G. Brown (MDAH)

Jacob Thompson, a charter member of the board of trustees, addressed entering student and faculty members on the first day of classes, November 6, 1848. He took the lead in establishing and supporting a library at the university. (ASC)

The board chose as architect William Nichols to design and build the first six buildings on campus. Nichols had recently designed the campus buildings at the University of Alabama, along with the capitol building in Jackson. (City of Jackson Web site)

16

L. Q. C. Lamar graduated from Emory College, where Alexander Longstreet was president. He taught mathematics at the university from 1850 to 1852 before returning to Georgia to practice law. In 1860 he came back to teach metaphysics and ethics. After the war he taught government science and law. Lamar finally resigned his position to enter politics in Washington, D. C. Several buildings at the university have been named in his honor, as has a street in Oxford. (ASC)

irtH to

1865

Albert Taylor Bledsoe was the first professor hired at the University of Mississippi, where he taught mathematics and astronomy. He became the interim president of the university when President Holmes left the campus in the spring of 1849. In 1854 Bledsoe left the university to teach mathematics at the University of Virginia. (ASC)

B

John Millington, a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a member of the Royal Astronomical Society, built and bought a major collection of scientific equipment while teaching at William and Mary. He brought the collection with him when he came to the University of Mississippi in 1848. The board bought much of his equipment before Millington left to teach at the Memphis Medical Center in 1853. (ASC)

William F. Stearns was selected as the first professor of law at the university in 1854 and helped establish what became the School of Law. (ASC)

Edward Carlisle Boynton came to the university in 1856 to teach chemistry, mineralogy, and geology. He was dismissed from the university by the board in 1861 because of his lack of allegiance to the Southern states. While at the university he made a number of photograph negatives that are especially important in documenting the early history of the university.

(ASC)

17

TheCampus Takes Shape

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1865

The Lyceum building, with a portico reminiscent of the Grecian Ionic Temple near Athens, included recitation and lecture rooms, a laboratory, a library and museum, and several society rooms. (A. Albert, ASC)

The original campus had two dormitories. The Northwest Dormitory, pictured here, was located where Peabody Hall is now. It had three sections: Jefferson (for Thomas Jefferson), Lafayette (for French General Marquis de Lafayette, for whom the county is named), and Rittenhouse (for statesman and astronomer David Rittenhouse of Pennsylvania). In 1895 the dormitory was renovated and used for other purposes—an elocution hall, a YMCA hall, and the law school. It was demolished in 1909. (ASC)

For meals, students came to the steward’s hall, located directly west of the Lyceum. The building served also for commencement activities and dances. During the Civil War, it was used as a mess hall for surgeons and their assistants. It later became a faculty residence and was demolished in 1930. (ASC)

18

Realizing the need for physical, as well as mental, development in their students, the board of trustees authorized the construction of a gymnasium. (ASC)

B irtH to

1865

During the construction phase, most of the campus trees were removed.

It took time for new ones to fill in the grounds. (A. Albert, ASC)

Modeled after the Russian Imperial Observatory and the observatory at Harvard University, the observatory building was to have nothing but the best, including a nineteen-inch telescope (the largest in the world at that time). Although the building itself was completed in 1859, the delivery of some of its equipment was delayed by the Civil War. (ASC)

19

Even though not all the intended equipment made it to Barnard after the war (the telescope ended up at Northwestern University), some outstanding items were purchased for use in the observatory, including a large electromagnet, a Norrenberg Polariscope, lenses and prisms, and a planetarium. Fortunately, most of the university’s early scientific equipment has been preserved and is on exhibit at the University Museum and Barnard Observatory. (ASC)

B

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1865

The university granted the railroad a right of way through its grounds in 1854. Barnard spoke about the construction in 1856, and there is some evidence that a railroad came through Oxford as early as 1857. At any rate, the coming of the railroad significantly changed transportation to and from the campus. (ASC)

The Lyceum bell, built by the Buckeye Bell Foundry of Cincinnati, was probably cast in early 1847 and installed when the building was constructed. (OM)

20

B irtH to

21

1865

In 1852 it was decided the campus needed a chapel for assemblies and commencement exercises. Architect M. J. McGuire constructed the building, which had a large auditorium on the first floor, an open gallery on the second, and large rooms for the literary societies on the third floor. The building was used as a hospital during the Civil War. (ASC)



Way Down South in Mississippi

T

The most magical time and place on the Ole Miss campus is the Circle late on a cold, silent December night when the students are gone. Under the canopy of the oaks bathed in amber light and amidst the steam rising from the ground stands a single cedar tree adorned with one light for every student enrolled in the university. Each of those lights represents one student who studies here, who plays here, who learns here, and who walks these sidewalks mindless of how short his or her time here will be.

The Alma Mater sings of “Ole Miss calling, calling.” Those who have shared this sacred

ground feel blessed to have been called here. Ole Miss calls in many places and at different times. Perhaps it begins when an infant is given a tiny shirt that says, “I’m a little Rebel.”

Perhaps it ends in later years with white-topped octogenarians who, with twinkles in their eyes, remember the Mansion; dances at the Tea Hound; December 7, 1941; or seeing Mr. Bill down on the Square.

But in between the beginning and the end is a lifetime of calling. It calls when two strangers meet thousands of miles away from here, but soon realize they share the legacy of Ole Miss. It calls when conversations start with, “Do you remember . . . ,” “Have you heard from . . . ,” or “Has it been that long since . . .” Or when an old professor opens a note from a student that simply says, “Thank you.” It calls on the runways in Atlantic City, in the halls of Congress, in Grammy-winning songs, in the words of the Washington Post and the New York Times. It has called in the books of Willie Morris and John Grisham and Ellen Douglas.

It calls in the legends of Blind Jim, Deans Guess and Hefley, Archie and his army, and

22

 rebellious jazz musicians living in Odom Dormitory. It is heard in boardrooms high above Wall Street, in classrooms from kindergarten to university, in operating rooms, on altars, in a national nightly newscast, on the battlefield, and in the deep teaching conversations parents have with sons and daughters.

Our alma mater calls in the roar of the crowd on a sun-drenched Saturday in Vaught Hemingway stadium and the final game of the World Series. It calls in the din of the crowd in the Grove on a sun-splashed Saturday and in the soft quiet of that same special place on a snowy morning.

Ole Miss calls in the frenzy of freshman move-in day and in the southern breezes that stir the oaks in the Grove on Commencement Day when students from faraway lands pose in front of magnolias in mortar board and gown knowing that after graduation they might not soon return. It calls in the impromptu Hoddy Totty at a wedding reception and in tears shed when a fellow Rebel dies.

Those who have answered the call have come to this place. The fabric of their lives and of this place is forever interwoven. ~Sparky Reardon

23

1865–1891

With the Civil War finally at an end, thoughts across the country turned toward Reconstruction.

Mississippi was no exception.

1865 to

Chapter Two 1891 An Uneasy Recovery

W

With the Civil War finally at an end, thoughts across the country turned toward Reconstruction.

Mississippi was no exception. In 1865 President Andrew Johnson appointed William Sharkey, who had been a charter member of the university’s board of trustees, as the provisional governor of Mississippi. One of Governor Sharkey’s first acts was that of calling a July 1, 1865, meeting of the board of trustees. There was of course no question of whether the university would reopen and continue to meet its established purpose, and classes began on the first Monday of that October.

There was a full complement of faculty and administration to lead them. The faithful John

Waddel, who had served as a board member and faculty member and who had previously been passed over for president, was at long last named chancellor. Alexander Quinche was reappointed to his position in Latin, Claudius Sears taught mathematics, and Mississippian John Wheat taught Greek. Shortly after the school session began, two more faculty members were added—Francis Shoup as professor of physics and astronomy and Stanford Burney as professor of English literature. In 1866 L. Q. C. Lamar returned to the faculty, first teaching metaphysics and ethics and then governmental science (law), and in 1867 and 1868 respectively Landon Garland accepted a post in physics and astronomy and Eugene Hilgard became professor of chemistry.

Postwar enrollment grew quickly, and the students—many of whom had served in the war—were generally more serious about their academics than past students. Sadly, although dedicated to their studies, many of them were also poorly prepared for academic work. To help, a Preparatory Department housed in Taylor Hall provided a three-year curriculum for students aged thirteen and older.

The UniversiTy of Mississippi

The students’ social lives were not neglected, either, as prewar fraternities reopened and new ones formed.

Perhaps most inspiring, those who’d served their state in the war were not forgotten; at the 1866 commencement ceremonies, members of the class of 1861 who would have graduated had they remained until the end of that school year were invited to attend and receive diplomas. It was a moving moment as the university paid tribute to its heroes. Francis Pope, a former officer in the army, spoke for his class and “tears were shed all over the house.”1 In contrast to growing enrollment and academic success, however, there arose several concerns. First was funding for the university, which had become a major problem (funds previously promised did not materialize as hoped). In 1867 board members wrote:

“

Certainly the prosperity of the university, which should

be the pride of every citizen, and this ability and disposition of the people to advance the moral and intellectual culture of the growing mind of the State, should be most gratifying to the people’s representatives, and should induce them to give the

”

most liberal support to the university.

2

They asked specifically for funds for both the repair of buildings and the building of new ones, including a library; new scientific apparatus; and a means of enclosing the grounds, which were, as the board indicated, “now like a waste place.”3 Members of the legislature did provide some extra funding.

Too, Reconstruction brought about fears, mostly related to social unrest. Students were not allowed to discuss politics openly. And many connected with the university suspected that the Radical Republicans (including a Republican board of trustees) would make major changes. Although the fears were largely unnecessary, there were those with strong Southern

26

1865–1891: An Uneasy Recovery connections who felt unfavorable changes were on the way. Edward Mayes commented on one aspect of the “anxious period”: “There was strong undercurrent of nervous apprehension lest at any time some aggressive negro should ignore the provision made for his race elsewhere, and demand admission to the university.”4 Waddel and members of the faculty said they would resign in such a situation.

In an effort to put the university on a more positive track, in 1869 Chancellor Waddel visited other campuses to observe, in particular, their curricula. Following his trip he recommended that the university’s “close college” curriculum be changed to a university system similar to that at the University of Michigan. Other recommendations, which the board accepted in 1871, included the establishment of a School of Science, Literature, and the Arts (which offered four different baccalaureate degrees, a master’s, and a PhD), and professional schools of Law, Medicine (although listed in the 1872 catalog, it was actually 1903 before a School of Medicine was established), and Agriculture. Unfortunately, there was never any student interest in agriculture, and the program went instead to the Agricultural and Mechanical School established at Starkville in 1878.

JoHn newton wAddel, born in South Carolina in 1812, received his baccalaureate degree in 1829 from the University of Georgia, where his father was president. After living and teaching in South Carolina and Alabama, he moved to Mississippi and organized the Montrose Academy, serving as its headmaster. He became a Presbyterian minister while in Montrose.

While in Mobile, Alabama, in 1841, Waddel read a newspaper account about plans to establish a new university at Oxford. He later wrote that finding that article was one of the most defining moments of his life. He left for Oxford and became a charter member of the university’s board of trustees, serving until 1848, when he resigned his position in order to become one of the first four faculty members (in ancient languages).

When the board chose Frederick Barnard instead of Waddel as president in 1856, he left the university to become president of LaGrange Tennessee Presbyterian Synodical College. During the Civil War, he served as commissioner of Army missions.

After the University of Mississippi was reopened in 1865, Waddel became chancellor and served until 1874. At the time of his death in 1895 the University of Mississippi faculty referred to him as “a man of broad and sympathetic scholarship, an enthusiastic and inspiring teacher” and praised his “efficient services and wise administrative ability.” (ASC)

27

The UniversiTy of Mississippi

Chancellor Waddel—who had guided the university through the postwar years, hired distinguished faculty members, modernized the curriculum, and made important contributions to the town—resigned his position in 1874. John Wheat was declared the most senior professor (over Alexander Quinche and Claudius Sears) and became acting chancellor, serving from July until mid-October of 1874, when he was replaced by his successor. There had been only one candidate for the vacant position: General Alexander P. Stewart (who had been backed by Judge Robert Hill of Oxford) was named chancellor and began his term of office on October 19, 1874. He was introduced at his inauguration by L. Q. C. Lamar.

Across the country, Reconstruction was ending. In 1876 the Democratic Party regained authority. In Oxford, new policies pertaining to the makeup of the board of trustees were adopted. The board took special efforts to publicize the university; enrollment had dropped and the statewide view was that the university was the domain of rich white men only. Due to the board’s efforts, enrollment in the fall of 1877 reached its highest number ever: 471 (although a large number of those were in the Preparatory Program).

Born in 1821 in Tennessee, AlexAnder P. stewArt attended the United States Military Academy. After graduating in 1842, he remained at the academy as a mathematics professor until 1845; one of his students was Stonewall Jackson.

After leaving the academy, he taught mathematics at Cumberland University and the University of Nashville (he was also a city surveyor for Nashville) for a number of years. He declined offers to become president of Cumberland University (Cumberland later granted him an honorary doctorate).

Shortly after the war Stewart was offered a professorship at the University of Mississippi, but declined. Instead, he worked for an insurance company for several years. But fate called and in 1874 he accepted the Mississippi chancellorship and remained in that position until 1886. He was successful in guiding the university through the latter part of Reconstruction, increasing enrollment, reinstating the law program, and leading in the movement to admit women. He was considered a kind and equitable man, very much concerned with the well-being of the students under his care.

A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Stewart died in 1908 in Biloxi. Stewart Hall at the university and Stewart Hall at Missouri Valley College are named in his memory. (ASC)

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1865–1891: An Uneasy Recovery Money was still scarce, though; the university budget was cut significantly and faculty salaries were reduced. The law program was temporarily abandoned since a professor was not replaced when he resigned in 1874, and there were fears that the Law School might be moved to Jackson and integrated. Furthermore, the librarian was also the janitor and students were required to clean their own rooms. There were questions about the future of the university, and in-state tuition was even discontinued for a while.

There were other contentious elements at play as well, especially pertaining to those things most important to students. In disregard of their popularity, board members gave consideration to abolishing fraternities (there were twelve active chapters in 1881). Then a recommendation that chapel attendance be voluntary was soundly defeated. And the precious winter vacation was limited to December 25 and January 1 only.

Finally, Felix Labauve, who had represented DeSoto County in the Mississippi legislature, made helpful financial contributions to the university. And Chancellor Stewart and a committee from the board of trustees put together a convincing case to the effect that the university was still owed a tremendous sum from the seminary fund. (Funds from the sales of a particular land grant were never given to the university—a point contended by others.)

The legislature did provide more funds in 1880 to ease the university’s money woes.

In spite of financial burdens and student discontent, the university’s social and athletic systems continued to grow. The first issue of the Mississippi University Magazine was published in 1875. Baseball

29

The two literary societies began publishing the Mississippi University Magazine in 1875. (ASC)

The UniversiTy of Mississippi

began around 1876. More emphasis was given to the YMCA. And by the mid-1880s “all the old boisterous verve and lilt returned with renewed vigor,”5 and Chancellor Stewart, the board, and the faculty again had to spend time and effort in disciplining the students.

Perhaps the greatest effect on social life since the university opened was the admittance of females to the student body in 1882—although the male students usually only saw their female counterparts in classes, since the ladies could not live on campus or even take meals there unless they lived with faculty members. A Memphis newspaper predicted coeducation would be abolished because of male opposition,6 but nothing ever came of it. Mayes, speaking on the wisdom of women at the university, noted of their entrance, “No adjustments of curriculum were made to meet any want for ornamental education or training.”7 There were eleven women in the first class, Professor Quinche’s daughter being one of them, and the first graduating class with females in it was that of 1885.

In that same year, Sarah McGehee Isom, daughter of Dr. Thomas Isom of Oxford, was elected to the faculty as an elocutionist. Board member H. M. Sullivan had written former Chancellor Barnard to ask about such an appointment, and Barnard responded: “To your inquiry, whether I would regard mere sex a disqualification in a woman for appointment to a position as a teacher in a male educational institution, I would say that I should not do at all.” Mr. Sullivan then wrote to Miss Isom, calling her election to the faculty “the first step towards progress for women in the South.”8 The wave of changes continued. In 1883 the board decided to stop granting Doctor of Divinity degrees. In 1884 it was decided that diplomas would be in English, rather than Latin as had previously been the case. And in 1886 board members decided to completely reorganize the university (board member H. H. Chalmers had begun his recommendations for “modernization” a few years earlier).

The reorganization would prove to be difficult, with tensions on both sides. Some members of the board had been unhappy about various practices and about certain members of the faculty for several years. Students registered many complaints, and there

30

1865–1891: An Uneasy Recovery was faculty dissension. Discipline problems resulted as standards were relaxed in an effort to maintain or increase enrollment. On one occasion the board even declared all faculty positions vacant, although they later reelected Chancellor Stewart and the professors.

Even so, Stewart decided to resign his position in July 1886. In a bold move, the trustees abolished the chancellor title and allowed the faculty to elect a person from the faculty to serve as chairman of the faculty. The faculty unanimously elected Edward Mayes.

In 1889 another major reorganization of the academic framework of the university took place. Degree requirements were changed, making nineteen departments (or schools) inside the Department of Science, Literature, and the Arts. There was also a Department of Professional Studies, but it consisted only of a School of Law. The title of chancellor was reinstated, and Mayes continued serving in that position, with the full support of the board and faculty colleagues.

edwArd mAyes, born in 1846 in Hinds County, was the first native Mississippian and the first alumnus of the university to serve as the chief executive officer. He attended Bethany College for a year, returned to Jackson and worked in a clothing store, taught school, and was a Confederate soldier.

He then entered the university in 1865.

A member of the Hermaean Society, he was a student speaker at commencement in 1867. He received a baccalaureate degree in 1868 and law degree in 1869 and was a tutor in English during the 1869−70 year. He then married a daughter of L. Q. C. Lamar, who had been his law professor, and practiced law in Coffeeville and Oxford.

Mayes joined the university’s law faculty in 1877. In 1886 he became chairman of the faculty and then chancellor (after that title was restored) in 1889. He served in that position until 1892, working to bulk up endowment funds and renovate the campus—including building and stocking a new library. He then left to become an attorney for the Illinois Central Railroad and a professor of law at Millsaps College from 1895 until 1900. He died in 1917.

Mayes was a recognized author and a leader in the Methodist Church. Mississippi College gave him an honorary law degree in 1886. (ASC)

31

The UniversiTy of Mississippi

Mayes was unusually energetic and spoke to audiences throughout the state about the university. He had earlier written at length about the debt the state owed the university as a result of seminary funds having been misused. Though he and Senator James Z. George, a supporter of Mississippi A & M, had earlier disagreed on this matter, Senator George later assisted the university “in securing . . . an additional grant of land from the United States Congress.”9 Under the leadership of Mayes and with the assistance of funding from the state, buildings were renovated, streets were laid, a new library was constructed, the first fraternity house (for Delta Psi) was built, the Mississippi Historical Society was founded (in 1890), and graduate student fellowships were created.

Mayes then made the tough decision to terminate Professors Hutson, Johnson, Quinche, Sears, and Latham because of continual complaints about their competence as teachers.

It was a move that rankled some who thought the professors’ years of service warranted a nobler end than firing. But Mayes followed through.

Although he had many enthusiastic followers—some of whom suggested him for various political offices—others never forgave Mayes for his decision. Perhaps because of this ill will (no doubt spurred by the fact that Quinche committed suicide shortly after his firing), Mayes elected to return to the law profession; he submitted his resignation in 1891 and joined a law firm in Jackson in December of that year.

Faculty members at the university helped to establish the Mississippi Historical Society. The journal for the society, which has continued since that time, was published in 1898. Professor Franklin L. Riley of the History Department was the first editor. (ASC)

32

1865–1891: An Uneasy Recovery

Mayes’s scholarly book gives excellent information about the university and other institutions in the state. (ASC)

33

People of Influence Alexander J. Quinche became a professor of Latin and modern languages in 1860. He was a custodian of university property during the Civil War. His family and the Ulysses Grants had been friends, and Quinche asked Grant to spare university buildings. Chancellor Mayes later fired Quinche, who committed suicide shortly thereafter. (ASC)

1865

to

1891

John Wheat studied at Hanover (Indiana) and Centre (Kentucky) Colleges and became a Methodist minister after studying at seminaries in Danville, Kentucky, and Princeton University. He began teaching at the university in 1865 and was interim chancellor in 1874. (ASC)

After graduating from West Point, Claudius W. Sears taught mathematics at St. Thomas Hall in Holly Springs and at the University of Louisiana.

He joined the university faculty in 1865. (ASC)

34

Landon C. Garland taught at Washington and Lee and was president of both Randolph-Macon and the University of Alabama. He came to the university in 1867 as a professor of physics and astronomy.

He left the university in 1875 in order to become the first president of Vanderbilt University. Garland Hall is named in his memory, as is Garland Hall at the University of Alabama. (R-MC Collection, courtesy of Randolph-Macon College Archives)

1865

Colonel Felix Labauve was born in France but came to north Mississippi in 1835; he conducted business with Native Americans, practiced law, and edited newspapers in Hernando; served in the Mississippi legislature; and was a delegate to the Democratic Convention in 1876. He died in 1879, leaving a large sum of money for the education of students from Desoto County. A building is named in Labauve’s memory. (UM Library)

to

1891

James Zachariah George studied law on his own and was admitted to the bar at age twenty-one. He was a member of the 1861 Mississippi Convention and a brigadier general during the Civil War. In 1879 he became a judge of the Mississippi Supreme Court and shortly thereafter became chief justice. George served on the board of trustees from 1878 until 1880 and was a United States senator from 1881 until 1897. George Hall is named in his memory. (ASC)

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Campus Life

1865

to

1891

A young preparatory school student, circa 1910 (ASC)

Fraternal Greek organizations flourished after the war, including the Delta Psi fraternity, pictured here in 1898. The Delta Psi organization was the third fraternity to organize on campus, in 1855. (ASC)

Following the war, the university prided itself on remaining financially accessible to students of all means. Total expected expenses per year were about $225, notwithstanding additional personal expenditures. Ministry students were taught free of charge. (ASC)

36

1865 to

1891 A group of earnest students, circa 1880, includes a young Robert B. Fulton (upper right). (ASC)

1891 1865

to

The Hermaean and Phi Sigma Literary Societies met weekly to socialize and discuss intellectual topics. (ASC)

Student Diary

Library acquisitions list

38

1865 to

The postwar faculty in all their dignified glory. Chancellor Waddel is seated in the chair to the left. (ASC)

1891

The university began offering graduate fellowships in 1890.

(UM catalog)

Due to the excess of unprepared students following the war, the university opened a three-year preparatory school for students aged thirteen and older. The school was in Taylor Hall, which has had a second floor added. (ASC)

The 1870−71 catalog provides information about the curriculum and academic organization. No college credit was given for preparatory work. The Department of Science, Literature, and the Arts granted a BA, a BS, a BPhil, a “Course for Civil Engineer,” an MA, and a PhD. Professional education consisted of the School of Law and Governmental Science and was to include a School of Medicine and Surgery “when organized.” (UM catalog)

39

Changes on Campus Chancellor Mayes was especially proud of the first stand-alone building for a library. It was built by day labor; bricks were burned on the campus. It was estimated that the structure would provide space for fifty thousand volumes. The university catalog pronounced it a “handsome Library building, containing four large rooms, and constructed on the modern style of architecture.� (ASC)

1865

to

1891

The building served as the library until 1911, when a new library building was built. From 1911 until 1930 it was home for the law school and called Lamar Hall. From 1930 until 1985 it was known as the Geology Building. In 1998 the renovated building was rededicated as the home for the dean of the college of Liberal Arts. (ASC)

By the mid-1880s there were approximately ten thousand volumes in the campus library, located in the Lyceum, and Chancellor Hayes began emphasizing the need for a separate building. Funds were appropriated in 1886 for the first new university building after the Civil War. The cornerstone of the new library was laid on April 30, 1889. On April 19, 1985, it was designated the James Alexander Ventress Hall, honoring the person known as the father of the university.

(Julien Tatum)

40

The library was completed in 1890, with two stories and four rooms. The downstairs housed the general collection, while the upstairs had space set aside for a scientific and technical library. (ASC)

1865 to

1891

The Delta Psi chapter house, St. Anthony’s Hall, was constructed in 1888 at the current site of the Alumni House and became the first fraternity house on the university campus. After fraternities were abolished in 1912, the university purchased the building and used it as a faculty residence for a number of years (for the Fants, the Murry Falkners, and the Bishops), selling it back to the fraternity in 1934. The house burned in 1943. (ASC)

Railings and porches were added to the three dormitories in the late 1870s. (ASC)

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A New Chapter

1865

to

1891

The 1882−83 catalog made a major announcement. (UM catalog)

Despite the efforts of some to keep the campus male only, no doubt the majority of students welcomed their female counterparts. These women soon proved their worth on campus; by 1885 females were taking first honors in various subjects. (ASC)

42

Sarah Isom, daughter of Dr. Thomas Dudley Isom, studied at the Augusta Seminary in Stanton, Virginia, and the Philadelphia School of Expression; she was awarded an honorary degree by the National School of Oratory. She was the first female faculty member of the university, where she was an instructor of elocution from 1885 until 1905. A dormitory and the women’s studies program have been named in her memory. She was posthumously named to the Alumni Hall of Fame in 1976. (OM)

1865 to

1891 An 1876 pamphlet Where Shall I Send My Son? was a widely circulated marketing tool. (ASC)

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

The Best of Ole Miss: The Honors College

W

When I arrived at Ole Miss in 1993, Bob Haws, chair of the History Department, had struggled to get seven students to enroll in my first class on Latin-American social revolutions.

I worked hard on the fundamental questions that semester with those students, asking what makes men or women risk their lives to change society by radical means. I even cooked breakfast for the final exam (my first and last time to do so!), and as we ate together I re-asked the question: why revolution? One kid looked me in the eyes and declared that the Trilateral Commission was behind all revolutions in the world. Fifteen hard weeks of work with these seven cherubs had come to this churlish conclusion! I knew my tenure at this university would be short.

Real change began in 1995, however, and a certain electricity energized conversations among professors. Alums began responding to Chancellor Khayat’s challenge to make Ole Miss a great public university. The administration moved to create the McDonnell–Barksdale Honors College in 1997 (later renamed the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College in 2004). The following year, the Croft Institute for International Studies promised training in one of three regions: Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Bright, driven students arrived and began to push professors; dreams started taking on corporeal form.

I found myself preparing for undergraduate classes with the same intensity I needed to teach graduate seminars. One spring day of 2000, lecturing in an introductory class on Latin America to a classroom filled with Honors and Croft students, I described the construction of Brasilia, the new capital of Brazil, in 1957. I remember trying to convey my excitement how

44

 the architect Lúcio Costa had designed the city in the form of an airplane, its tail purposefully turned toward Europe and its nose pointing toward the interior of Brazil, its hope for future economic growth. All of a sudden, a hand shot up, and one student challenged me.

“Oscar Niemeyer designed Brasilia, professor.” Taken back by this freshman’s precociousness, I retorted, “Look, Brad Burns of the University of California at Berkeley, one of the leading historians of Brazil, stated quite clearly that Costa was recognized as the principal architect of this new city.”

The hand shot back up.

“Professor, I’ve been to Brasilia and I’ve talked with people about this.”

I was stunned. A freshman had challenged me with resoluteness and resolve.

I called a time out, made a promise to check my source, and encouraged the student and others to check out who was right. As soon as class ended, I nearly ran back to my office to do just that myself.

Thank goodness I was right! Lúcio Costa indeed had designed the outline of the city. To my great surprise and elation, however, Oscar Niemeyer had played a significant role; he had outlined many of the key federal buildings along the fuselage of the newly built city.

Who could have imagined that I would debate with a freshman over the particular architect of a remote Latin-American capital in the heart of the University of Mississippi?

It was a marvelous day of teaching at Ole Miss. ~Douglass Sullivan-González

45

1892–1914

It was to be an era of Firsts.

Chapter Three An Era of Firsts

1892 to

1914

W

When Edward Mayes left the university, Vice Chancellor Robert Fulton was given the leadership position in the interim and then fully appointed in 1892. His reign brought about a number of changes. One of the most important was the abolishment of the Preparatory Department and new affiliations with high schools regarding the transfer of courses. Another, in 1893, was the procurement of outside funding for a summer school for teachers, which eventually led to the establishment of a School of Education.

It was to be an era of firsts. Alexander Bondurant organized and coached the first football

team in 1893. The first PhD was awarded that same year. The first M-Book (a pocket-sized book filled with good-to-know information about the campus) was published in 1894. Medical courses were first added to the curriculum. The first yearbook was published in 1897 and titled Ole Miss (as suggested by student Elma Meek). In 1899 the Young Women’s Christian Association and the first campus sorority (Chi Omega, actually begun in 1896 as Sigma Tau) were founded. An Engineering School was established in 1900. And in 1903 the first dean of women, Eula Deaton, was appointed.

All of this activity and more precipitated the need for physical changes to the campus, and Fulton made a convincing case that the university was entitled to another township of land.

The sale of timber on that township in Harrison and Jackson counties made possible several new buildings, including a powerhouse, and renovation and upgrading of other buildings.

As the university entered a new century, cisterns were replaced with a deep well, a sewer system was installed, and steam heat, electricity, and running water were made available in most buildings. In 1903 wings were added to the Lyceum, and the first dormitory for women was built. Soon after came new faculty houses and apartments for married students. Four

The UniversiTy of Mississippi

of the university buildings had telephones installed in 1904. And in 1905 Chancellor Fulton started making the case for more new buildings, including a new library and a dormitory with a dining hall.

Perhaps emboldened by the success of the university, the students became a problem once more, and many were expelled for drinking and gambling. Students resented the rules and regulations and intense rivalries developed between the Greeks and non-Greeks.

Unfortunately, Chancellor Fulton showed a marked favoritism toward the fraternities and sororities, something that angered those in power. It became no secret that Governor James K. Vardaman intended to remove the chancellor. Fulton, realizing he lacked support among the board (who had rejected his plan to build a new library even after he persuaded the Carnegie Foundation to fund the building), submitted his resignation in June 1906. It was a somewhat ignoble ending for a man who had breathed such life into the university.

robert Burwell Fulton was born in 1849 in Alabama. He received a bachelor of arts from the University of Mississippi in 1869, with highest honors. He taught briefly in Alabama and Louisiana and then returned to the university in 1871 as a tutor in physics and astronomy, later taking his master’s in 1874. He served for a time as adjunct professor but became a full professor in 1875, succeeding his father-in-law, Landon Garland, when Garland left to become president of Vanderbilt University (Fulton was a brother-inlaw of John Sharp Williams).

Fulton became chancellor in 1892 and served until 1906, guiding the university into the twentieth century. He was granted honorary doctorates by the Universities of Nashville and Alabama and South Carolina College. He helped organize and was for five years president of the National Association of State Universities. He served as president of the Southern Educational Association, as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and as an officer in the Mississippi Historical Society and the Department of Archives and History.

Fulton is remembered as Father of the Schools of Engineering, Education, and Medicine at Ole Miss. He died in 1919 and is buried near L. Q. C. Lamar and Augustus B. Longstreet in Oxford.

Fulton Chapel is named in his memory. (ASC)

48

1892–1914: An Era of Firsts Following Fulton’s exit, the board had trouble filling the position. First the chancellorship was offered to Andrew Armstrong Kincannon, but he declined, saying he was happy in his position at the women’s college in Columbus. (Most historians believe he really wanted a higher salary offer and the promise of more authority.) Alfred Hume, who had been vice chancellor and dean of the Department of Science, Literature, and the Arts since 1905, served as acting chancellor for much of 1906–07. Then, in the summer of 1907 James B. Aswell was extended an offer. He accepted the position but declined before his term even began for reasons unknown—although there was speculation that John Sharp Williams, in a bitter campaign fight with Governor Vardaman at the time, might have influenced Aswell’s decision to reject the offer.

Finally, recommended again and promised more authority and power than previous chancellors had enjoyed, Andrew Kincannon accepted the offer to become chancellor in 1907. The third university alumnus to serve in the position, Kincannon proved most effective in dealing with the legislature; during his first two years the university received its largest appropriations ever. The funds were used for building the Peabody Building (for the School of Education), a new library building (now Bryant Hall), a new power plant (after the previous new one burned), a laundry building, a science building, a student infirmary, and a men’s dormitory, including a large dining hall (Gordon Hall) for four hundred students.

Student social and academic prospects were also growing during this time. An honor council (similar to an associated student body for government) was elected and the student newspaper, The Mississippian, ran its first edition (it succeeded the Varsity Voice). A School of Pharmacy was organized in 1908 (at that time it occupied space in both the Lyceum and a new science building concurrently) and the Program of Medicine was expanded. And not to be outdone by the football team, a men’s basketball team hit the gym.

Snow on campus

49

The UniversiTy of Mississippi

Tensions between Greeks and non-Greeks continued, however, and during Kincannon’s chancellorship, legislator Lee Russell led a movement to abolish social fraternities (something many believe he advocated because he hadn’t been invited to join one when he himself was a university student). Perhaps because of continued bad behavior on the part of the Greeks, he succeeded, and although many became sub rosa organizations, fraternities were legally banned by the Mississippi legislature in 1912.

Unfortunately, controversy soon overshadowed Kincannon’s successes. The university’s financial situation became difficult—“A combination of underfunding and poor management created a mounting deficit at the university and left many bills unpaid”1—and Kincannon found it necessary to borrow from endowments for regular operating expenses. It proved to be an intensely unpopular act, and accusations arose regarding the proper handling of university funds. He was later cleared of such charges, but the damage was done.

Another troubling aspect of Kincannon’s tenure was the belief he gave favorable treatment to children of influential parents.

There might have been some merit in this; although he appeared to advocate an opendoor policy and even established a student self-help program for those willing to work their way through college, Kincannon gave some of those job positions to a nephew of governor Earl Brewer, sons of Senator Vardaman, and children of board members.

Each chancellor was required to send reports of the trustees of the University of Mississippi to the governor. Here we see how Fulton’s administration divvied out salaries. (ASC)

50

1892–1914: An Era of Firsts Perhaps the final blow occurred when several ineligible students were allowed to participate in athletics (Kincannon had also awarded self-help jobs to some of those athletes), a move that brought about suspension from the conference athletic organization.

Governor Earl Brewer then directed the chancellor to reinstate some students who had been suspended for disciplinary reasons. In response, Kincannon chose to resign his position in 1914, later saying he was unwilling for the school to become a political chattel: “I accepted the Chancellorship after a third election to the position upon the distinct condition that I was to control the institution without the Board’s interference. So long as the Board respected my authority as Chancellor, the institution was phenomenally prosperous. When the Board undertook to disregard my authority, I resigned.”2

It is no wonder that during these dark times efforts were underway to consolidate the university with Mississippi State.

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Andrew ArmstronG kincAnnon was born in 1859 in Noxubee County. He attended school at the Verona Male Academy (Richard Marion Leavell and John Greer Dupree were two of his teachers), entered the university in 1877, and became a member of the Rainbow Society and the Phi Sigma Literary Society.

He left the university, however, before completing his degree and taught in secondary schools. In 1883 he received a bachelor of arts from Normal University in Lebanon, Ohio, and a master’s there the next year.

He returned to Mississippi in 1884 and taught English at Mississippi A&M College. In 1887 he became superintendent of schools in Meridian (while there he married a granddaughter of senator J. Z. George); he then served a term as state superintendent of education. In 1898 he became president of the Industrial Institute and College at Columbus (currently Mississippi University for Women). The University of Arkansas granted him an honorary LLD in 1907.

That same year he was elected to the chancellorship of the University of Mississippi. He was a director of the National Education Association and The Southern Educational Association and a member of the State Board of Examiners. After leaving the university in 1914, he became superintendent of the public schools in Memphis and served in that capacity for ten years. In 1924 he was selected president of the West Tennessee Normal College (now the University of Memphis). In 1929 he became a professor of history at what is now the University of Southern Mississippi.

Kincannon Hall is named in his memory. (OM)

The UniversiTy of Mississippi

God Will Vindicate:

The Confederate Cemetery

During the Civil War approximately two thousand soldiers were treated at hospitals set up on the university campus. Those who died (more than seven hundred) were buried in a cemetery just south of the main part of the campus.

The area is a small one, about an acre. There are stepping stones running from the entrance to a large obelisk in the center. This great piece of granite was originally to be placed atop the new medical school building. It ended up being too heavy and difficult to handle, so a stone mason engraved a memorial for the Confederate cemetery. A bronze plaque on the stone reports that

“

Here rest more than seven hundred soldiers who died on

the campus of the University of Mississippi when the buildings were in use as a war hospital, 1862–1865; most of them

Confederates wounded at Shiloh; a few Federals of Grant’s army; a few Confederates of Forrest’s Cavalry, even their

”

names save these, known but to God.

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1892–1914: An Era of Firsts The plaque lists only 139 names. The Government Printing Office has reported that bodies of thirty-five Union soldiers were removed from Oxford or the Oxford vicinity; thus the bodies buried there now are probably all from the Confederate army.

A seal of the Mississippi Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy is included on the stone. Carrying a Rebel flag and stars, it displays the Latin phrase Deo Vindice, meaning God will vindicate.

Bricks from demolished dormitories were used for construction of a wall around the cemetery. Individual markers probably once identified the graves. Some believe workers in charge of cleaning up the cemetery removed the markers and did not remember which went where. Others speculate the wooden markers might have burned, for at least two fires destroyed wooden walls around the cemetery.

Many have believed the cemetery contained mass graves. Anthropologists at the University of Mississippi, however, have conducted several remote sensing surveys and have determined this not to be true.3 Whatever the case, whoever is buried there, this hallowed and melancholy places stands as a reminder of the South’s fallen.

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People of Influence

1914

John Greer Deupree (BA and MA from Howard College; LLD from Southwest Baptist University) was president of Okolona Female College, a professor at Mississippi College, and superintendent of schools at Meridian. He taught pedagogy at the university from 1896 to 1905, when he began teaching Greek. He was the first dean of the School of Education (from 1903 until 1905). Deupree Hall is named in his memory. (OM)

1892

to

Fanny J. Ricks, from Yazoo City, contributed large sums of money to the university in the late 1890s and early 1900s. The funding made possible the university’s early summer sessions.

Ricks Hall was named in her honor. (ASC)

Thomas Hugh Somerville (LLB, LLD, Washington and Lee University) became professor of law in 1897. He was dean of the School of Law from 1906 until 1913.

One of his daughters ran the popular Tea Room; another married English professor David Bishop.

(OM) Alfred Hume, who had become vice chancellor and dean of the Department of Science, Literature, and Arts in 1905, was acting chancellor from June 1906 until June 1907. (OM)

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In March of 1907 the board elected as chancellor James B. Aswell, state superintendent of education in Louisiana. The appointment was to begin on July 1, 1907. At their May 1907 meeting, however, board members accepted Aswell’s resignation, and he never served. The university catalog for 1906–07 listed Aswell as chancellor-elect, and his photograph was included in the 1907 Ole Miss. (OM)

1892

57

1914

Winn David Hedleston, an 1883 graduate, was an acting assistant professor of chemistry in 1884. He left the university to serve as a Presbyterian minister in Kentucky; he then returned to Oxford and was both a minister and a professor of philosophy and ethics from 1909–30. He was given an honorary doctorate by Central Kentucky. Hedleston Hall was named in his memory. (OM)

to

G. G. Lyell was editor of the first Ole Miss, the edition for 1897. (OM)

Leonard Jerome Farley received his BS at the university in 1884. He was superintendent of education in DeSoto County (1892–98) and was a member of the Mississippi Senate from 1900 until 1908. He became a law professor in 1910 and was dean of the School of Law from 1913 until 1921. In 1913 he was granted an LLD from Mississippi College.

Farley Hall is named in honor of Farley, his father, and his son. (OM)

Alumnus James Warsaw Bell joined the faculty in 1903 and taught Latin, mathematics, and education (and later economics and political science). He was dean of the School of Education from 1910 until 1915 and was the first dean of the School of Commerce and Business, from 1917 to 1941. He was president of the Alumni Association from 1941 until 1944. (OM)

Waller S. Leathers came to the university in 1894.

He was the first dean of the Medical School, serving from 1903 until 1924. (OM)

The gymnastics club in 1909. Obviously, at this time gymnastics was a male sport. (OM)

Tennis, track, and baseball were also established sports by 1897. (OM) In 1893, Latin professor Alexander Bondurant introduced football to the university. It was the start to a tradition that has shaped the university into what it is today. (OM)

1892

to

1914

The World of Sports

58

Cross-country track was established in 1907. (OM)

1892 to

1914 Men’s basketball began during the academic year 1908–09.

The 1911 basketball team won the state championship. (OM)

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1892

to

1914

Campus Life

Interior views of the Delta Psi and Phi Delta Theta fraternity houses (OM)

The university’s chapter of Sigma Chi began in 1857. Their first chapter house was on the south side of University Avenue between Brady Hall (the infirmary) and the post office building, now in the area of Faser Hall. (ASC) The 1909 YMCA officers. The YMCA and YWCA were important organizations on campus. (OM)

Exterior of the Delta Kappa Epsilon house, known as the Dead House. By this time, a number of fraternities were established and giving the administration headaches. (OM)

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Although the first M-Book was published in 1894, the earliest one in university archives is one for 1911–12. These pocketsized booklets were sponsored by the YMCA and YWCA and provided information about such things as the Y, university organizations, athletics, the post office, eating facilities, and the laundry. Today, the M-Book continues to inform new students about their home for the next several years. (ASC)

1892 to

1914

Members of the Oxford Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy raised funds for a statue of a Confederate soldier (a scout). A dedication ceremony took place on May 10, 1906, with a parade, music, an invocation, a major address, and an unveiling ceremony. (ASC)

Ricks Hall, completed in 1903, was the first dormitory for female students to be built on campus. With parlors and study rooms, bedrooms, and dining facilities, it provided everything necessary —including chaperoning from the dean of women—to keep the young ladies separated from their male counterparts. The building was named in honor of Fannie Ricks. It was razed in 1973 to provide space for the student union building. (OM) The class gift of 1902 was an archway at what was then the main entrance to the campus, near the Hilgard Cut. (ASC)

Dorm rooms in 1902 were every bit as messy as those of today. (OM)

The new medical (science) building with the Confederate statue in the foreground.

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1892 to

1914

Trains were an early form of transportation for students and faculty. There was a walkway from the depot to the campus. (OM)

1892 to

1914

A freshman in 1903 might have arrived by train, full of nerves and expectations. (ASC)

1892

to

1914

Academic Opportunities

The first medical school class graduated in 1904. They would now move from bones and cadavers to working with real patients. (OM)

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Fall 1908 brought the opening of the Department of Pharmacy. (UM catalog)

By 1898 quite a few students were undertaking a law degree at the university. (OM)

The 1894 catalog commented on summer schools.

It was acknowledged that although summer sessions might not be very full in such a rural area, the teacher training program (which eventually grew from the summer sessions into the School of Education) in the summer of 1893 had gone well. (UM catalog)

1892

The university’s first Rhodes Scholar was Ebb J. Ford in 1905. (OM)

to

Although engineering courses got off to a rocky start (after beginning in the 1860s, they were more or less abandoned until the end of the century), by 1901–02 the university was offering courses in electrical, civil, and mining engineering. (UM catalog)

65

Dr. William A. Taylor of Booneville, Mississippi, founded the Marcus Elvis Taylor Memorial at the university in June 1904.

The fund provides medals to students nominated for outstanding scholarship in a particular field combined with superior work in all other subjects.

(ASC)

1914

Hubert A. Shands (BA in 1890 and MA in 1891) was the first person to earn a PhD at the university, in 1893. Author of a book titled White and Black, he became a professor of rhetoric and oratory in 1905. (OM)

Instrumental and vocal music have always been important activities for university students. Pictured above are the 1896–97 student groups.(OM) The first issue of a new magazine called the University Record included an article about the Mississippi-Tulane football game of 1898. (ASC)

1892

to

1914

Arts & Entertainment

Music recitals were sometimes held in the Lyric Theatre in Oxford. Much entertainment could be had for the price. (ASC)

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The first issue of Varsity Voice was published on June 1, 1907.

(ASC)

Over the years since the university gained its beloved nickname, many have tried their hands at “Ole Miss� poems. (OM)

1892 to

1914

The first edition of the student newspaper The Mississippian was published on October 14, 1911. It has been in continuous publication since that time. In 1962 the newspaper became The Daily Mississippian. (TM)

The industrious staff of that first yearbook endeavor (OM)

An 1896 article in the Oxford Eagle reported that there was to be a yearbook published at the university the following year. (OM)

Stark Young edited the student yearbook and published some of his poetry while he attended the university, graduating in 1901. After graduate work at Columbia, he returned to the university and taught English. He was later an editor of the New Republic and a drama critic for the New York Times, as well as a poet, novelist, and translator. The university owns the house where Young lived in Oxford. (OM)

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1892

to

1914

The Campus Grows

Starting with the turn of the century, a power plant supplied steam heat and electricity for many of the university buildings.

Chancellor Fulton worked out an arrangement whereby the university provided electricity for Oxford as well. When the power plant burned in September of 1907, a new and better one was built on the site the following year. (OM) In 1906 four faculty residences were built between current Farley Hall and the railroad. For a number of years the street was known as B Row because of the surnames of the faculty members living there: Dr. A. L. Bondurant, Dr. David Bishop, Dr. Calvin Brown, and Dr. James Warsaw Bell. (OM) The Swanns, and later the Trotters, were longtime residents of a faculty residence northwest of the Lyceum, at the current location of Conner Hall. In its latter years it was used for administrative offices. (OM)

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Previously the university’s water came from cisterns. But in 1903 an eight-inch well and a water tank went online. (OM)

1892

The George Peabody Education Fund gave the university forty thousand dollars for the construction of a building for the School of Education, named after its donor. Peabody Hall was dedicated on November 14, 1912; Governor Earl Brewer spoke. Education occupied the building from its completion in 1913 until 1956. At different times during those years faculty members in English, home economics, commerce and business, art, philosophy, political science, modern languages, mathematics, and military science used the building. For a short time after World War I, students roomed in the building; rooms were used for visiting athletic teams; the Men’s Faculty Club often met in the building; the band sometimes practiced there. Since 1956 it has been home to the Psychology Department. (OM)

to

1914

This photograph above is one of the first taken after wings were added to the Lyceum. Adding the north wing to the Lyceum provided space for chemistry, biology, and electrical, civil, and mining engineering (and for commerce at a later time). In later years the finance division of the university used most of the north wing. Since the recent renovation, that section houses the chancellor and his office staff (first floor) and the vice chancellor for administration and his staff (second floor). (OM)

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A student infirmary, later named in honor of nurse Minnie Brady, was completed in 1907, at the same time as the new medical building. It contained several wards, including private ones; the physician’s office; sterilizing and operating rooms; and housing for staff. (OM)

1892 to

1914

1892

The second floor of the south wing of the Lyceum included a Y auditorium. It had seats for approximately three hundred people. (ASC)

to

1914

1914 to

1892

The Science Hall, which came to be called the medical building, was built in 1906–07. It stood where Hume Hall is today. The four-story structure had space for classrooms and laboratories for medicine and on occasion for geology, biology, pharmacy, engineering, and psychology. Housed there also were extensive scientific collections of fossils, soil, rocks, minerals, shells, etc. After Guyton Hall was built in 1934, most of the departments related to medicine moved there. (OM) Some of the items recovered from the Science Hall time capsule when the building was razed were postal cards with photographs of the Lyceum and the chancellor’s residence in Barnard Observatory, Masonic lodge information, a bulletin for the summer session of 1907, and a program for spring commencement 1907. (ASC)

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Mrs. L.H. Hunt was the first full-time librarian (OM).

The cornerstone for Gordon Hall was laid on November 6, 1908, on the sixtieth anniversary of the opening of the university. The dormitory, at the current site of Carrier Hall, was occupied in the fall of 1909. Thoroughly modern for its time, it included such extravagances as hot and cold water in each room, radiators, and electric lights.

Chancellor Kincannon is said to have regretted having Gordon Hall built, for it was so large that students made noise, shot firecrackers, and defaced the building. The building was named in honor of James Gordon of the class of 1855. (OM)

1892

The Gordon Hall dining hall, which could accommodate up to four hundred, was used by students rooming in other dormitories as well.

On occasion it served for dances and other events. (ASC)

to

1914

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During his chancellorship, Robert Fulton had persuaded the Carnegie Foundation to give the university thirty-six thousand dollars for a new library.

The cornerstone was laid on September 22, 1910, and Chancellor Kincannon invited Fulton to speak at the dedication on May 30, 1911. The inscription for the building was “1844 Library 1910.� When a new building was constructed in 1951, the Departments of Art and Speech and Theater, including the campus radio station, moved into the previous library building. It was known as the Fine Arts Building from 1952 until 1984, when it was renamed Bryant Hall in honor of W. Alton Bryant. (OM)

A Force to Be Reckoned With

1892

to

1914

Eula Deaton (with degrees from the Industrial Institute and College, the University of Chicago, and UM) was the university’s first dean of women, from 1903 until 1907. She was vice president of the Alumni Association and the first female member of the English department.

Deaton Hall is named in her memory. (OM)

Ricks Hall continued to be the social and living center for female students. Here stand the residents of 1909. (ASC)

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As with their earlier counterparts, the coeds enjoyed extracurricular activities such as debating intellectual topics in the Panthenic Literary Society and putting on shows such as Les Amateurs de la France. (ASC)

1892

Tau Delta Theta was one of several sororities on campus at the turn of the century. (OM)

to

1914 The coeds had tennis and basketball teams as early as 1905, though it was 1974 before the women’s teams started competing in the NCAA. (OM)

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

A War of No Words:

The Daily Mississippian Protest

W

Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.

And with that quote from Thomas Jefferson, The Daily Mississippian Editor Selection

Protest of 1990 was officially underway.

There was exactly one news story on the front page of the DM on February 14, 1990. It

laid out the latest in a strange series of events that ultimately led the majority of the DM staff

to refuse to print news on three pages that day.

Throughout its history, the editor of The Daily Mississippian had been elected by a popular vote of the student body. Given that elections heavily favored candidates with Greek connections, the staff was concerned that any Joe Frat or Sally Soror could theoretically end up heading the only student-run daily in the state—regardless of whether they’d had a single journalism course or not.

For aspiring journalists, this was unacceptable. Shouldn’t an editor be more concerned with covering politics than playing them?

The ASB Senate attempted a compromise that involved screening candidates to ensure their qualifications before proceeding to a general election. This backfired when grad

76

 student Rob Waters, a veteran DM staff member from California, was left off of the ballot because he didn’t have a journalism background. Later, the Student Judicial Council ruled that the entire screening process was unconstitutional and restored the process to a wideopen election.

Fed up with the whole thing, the DM staff, led by its last elected editor, Bill Dabney, ran white space with only this statement on three pages:

“

In protest to the current process of election of the editor,

the staff of the DM has refused to place news on this page.

We are dissatisfied with the current election process and will

”

continue to express our views in similar manners.

“Similar manners” showed up on day two of the protest. That’s when the staff ran the entire text of the U.S. Constitution all the way through the paper. Sixteen pages of it.

For the record, there were dissenters in the newsroom. In fact, fearing some staffers might sabotage the protest, Dabney took the pasteup pages home. Other students protested the protest by littering the hallways of Farley Hall with the protest edition.

But it worked.

The ASB finally passed a bill that would result in the complete transition from public election to committee selection. Ole Miss would make history again a few short months later by naming its first selected DM editor, who also happened to be its first African-American one.

Back then, like most young people, the newspaper staff was thinking in the moment—they hadn’t considered the legacy their protest would leave. But since then, there have been four more black DM editors—two of them black females. While having a black editor is not a big deal these days, we might still be waiting on our first if editors were still publicly elected.

All it took was some good old-fashioned freedom of the press, a little courage, and two days of a newspaper without news. ~Lee Eric Smith, First African-American editor of The Daily Mississippian

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1914–1924

It was clear, for example, that the governor and the board were becoming too involved in the goings on at the university.

1914 to

Chapter Four 1924 Politics, Conflicts, and Scandals

M

Many Mississippi supporters of higher education had concerns about where the University of Mississippi was going. It was clear, for example, that the governor and the board were becoming far too involved in the goings on at the university. At the time of Kincannon’s resignation, one newspaper announced: “It is time to quit playing politics in the management of institutions of higher learning. We must get a better faculty, provide them with a sense of security and stability in order that the University may provide the kind of educational instruction necessary.”1

But in some ways things went in exactly the opposite direction. Take, for instance, the

search for a new chancellor. No one except Joseph Neely Powers was even considered for the position. Powers was then the superintendent of education for the state of Mississippi (his position put him on the governing board for universities in the state). Governor Earl Brewer, acting as chair of the board, cast a single vote (for the entire board—no one else voted) for the single candidate. And just like that, Powers became chancellor in 1914.

At the time he took office, “faculty dissension was the highest and morale the lowest in the university’s history.”2 Although some things were going smoothly—enrollment in the fall of 1915 reached the five hundred mark—campus life didn’t measure up to the dream.

The student-faculty ratio was far too high. Students lived in crowded conditions in buildings worn to the point of falling down. Powers tried to placate students with promises such as keeping textbook prices low. But to students it was small comfort.

Although some would have said it was a lost cause, Powers was widely recognized by both the disgruntled students and, by now, a skeptical public as one who wished to make the university more democratic.

The UniversiTy of Mississippi

In keeping with his long-standing philosophy of “carrying the school to the people,” Chancellor Powers initiated “the University Weekly Letter.” This was the chancellor’s attempt to make the university relevant to the people whose taxes sustained the institution and to demonstrate that a democratic university could be of practical benefit to the people of Mississippi.3

Topics in the weekly letters, sent to state newspapers, were on such subjects as diseases in Mississippi livestock, moral training in public schools, and patent medicine. But again, these papers did little to stem the tide of dissatisfaction.

JosePH neely Powers was born in Alabama in 1869. He attended Southern University in Greensboro, Alabama, but left before finishing a degree. He took some courses at the University of Mississippi in 1901–02 and reportedly took some classes at Louisville Medical College and the University of Chicago. Mississippi College granted him an honorary LLD. He was a high-school teacher and administrator at a number of high schools in the state.

From 1907 until 1914 he was state superintendent of education for Mississippi.

One of his achievements in the position was the establishment of agricultural high schools; he also started the practice of teaching home economics to the female students. He supported the idea of normal colleges for the training of teachers and was influential in the 1912 founding of what is now the University of Southern Mississippi.

Powers served as chancellor of the University of Mississippi from 1914 until 1924. Governor Whitfield cast the vote that removed him from the chancellorship. After working in a real estate business in Jackson, Powers was brought back to the campus as chancellor once more in 1930 and served until 1932, when Martin Sennett Conner was named governor. Powers retired to Jackson, where he died in 1939. Powers Dormitory on the University of Mississippi campus was dedicated in 1959. (OM)

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1914–1924: Politics, Conflicts, and Scandals As if social unrest wasn’t enough, in a repeat performance of his predecessor, Powers was charged with misusing university funds. The accusations could not have come at a worse time. The campus was in sore need of a new dormitory; pre-Civil War dormitories had been declared unsafe and students were being temporarily assigned rooms in the Lyceum, Taylor Hall, and other buildings. A legislative committee appointed to investigate the charges against Powers came to the conclusion that the university had reached its growth potential— meaning without new dormitories, they couldn’t possibly raise enrollment (unless students found housing in Oxford).

The committee also determined that not all the financial problems of the previous administrations had been corrected and that questionable practices had continued into Powers’s administration. Although Powers was never formally charged for financial misconduct, it was noted that professors were sometimes not paid on time because money earmarked for salaries was used for operating expenses. Some monies were even used to purchase furniture for the chancellor’s residence.

A reversal of fortune was desperately needed. And a temporary one—at least in terms of housing woes—came in the form of another war. As before, enrollment dropped when many students enlisted in military services in World War I (military companies on the campus provided training, and drill was required of male students). But by the fall of 1919 the university simply could not accept all of its applicants because of a lack of space. Furthermore, many of the existing buildings were still in extremely bad condition.

Adding to the mix was a continued effort to merge the campus with Mississippi A&M and the Industrial Institute and College for Women. But in the end legislative bills to consolidate all state institutions of higher education into one university at Jackson failed, and the legislature made a large appropriation to Ole Miss in 1920. At long last, five dormitories— four for men and one for women—were funded. A new building for the Chemistry and Pharmacy Departments was also built, freeing up needed classroom space in the Lyceum, which was renovated and given a new west portico to match the original one at the east entrance. Too, a School of Commerce and Business Administration had been approved in

81

The UniversiTy of Mississippi

1917 (based in part on Powers’s belief that a business degree might afford students more opportunities than a liberal arts degree) and opened its doors for the 1919–20 academic year.

And the state Geological Survey returned to the campus.

But this breath of renewal was short-lived. With more dorms in place, more students enrolled, creating a domino effect of university social unrest like that seen in previous years.

In 1920 students were required by an act of the board of trustees (Governor Russell was chair of the board) to vow they would not participate in fraternities, which had been banned since 1912 but had carried on sub rosa. The board’s intent was “wholly eradicating these organizations.”4 Students were required to sign antifraternity pledges; twenty-five students were expelled for refusing to do so.

Further, the board put restrictions on social activities at the university, especially dances.

Board members wrote that “public dances given by students . . . have been accompanied at times with forms of gross evils and have interfered with the progress . . . of instruction.”5 The restrictions on dances and fraternity life caused students to burn Governor Russell in effigy.

It was the beginning of the end for Chancellor Powers. Politics, as always, remained a big part of university business, and Powers lacked the necessary skills. Faculty salaries remained low (indeed, they were actually reduced in 1922 because of a lack of funding from the legislature). The big bombshell came, however, when a faculty member who was not given a deanship charged that Chancellor Powers was having an affair with a woman in Jackson and that he had lied about his college degrees. The scandal unfolded in numerous newspaper stories and was discussed around dining tables and in parlors across the region.

Although Powers was exonerated on the adultery charge, he had to admit that his only degree was an honorary LLD from Mississippi College. Henry Whitfield, an old adversary of Powers who had been elected governor in 1923, cast the vote that removed Powers from the chancellorship and gave it to Alfred Hume. It was an end to perhaps one of the most unfavorable reigns in the university’s history.

82

1914–1924: Politics, Conflicts, and Scandals

William Faulkner (he was spelling it “Falkner” at that time) drew a picture—thought to be his first published work—for the 1917 Ole Miss yearbook; he was included as a member of the staff in 1920. (OM)

83

People of Influence

1914

to

1924

Drane Lester (BA, 1921; MA, 1922) edited both the yearbook and student newspaper, received seven varsity letters, was vice president of the ASB, became the university’s tenth Rhodes Scholar in 1922, received a bachelor of civil law degree from Oxford University, was awarded the Roumanian Government’s Order of the Crown of Roumania, was a member of the American Legion, was an FBI agent from 1932 until 1940, and served as a military intelligence officer during World War II (he was killed in 1942). Each year the Department of English gives the Drane Lester Award to a student who has excelled in English. Lester Hall is named in his memory. (OM)

Lucy Somerville Howorth received her law degree in 1922, with the highest grades in the class.

She practiced law in Cleveland, Greenville, and Jackson and was United States commissioner for the Southern District of Mississippi. She was a member of the Administrative Board of Veterans’ Appeals, the first woman to serve as general counsel for the War Claims Commission, a member of the State Board of Law Examiners, a state representative, and a United States Envoy to West Germany. She was named to the Alumni Hall of Fame in 1984. (Isom Center)

Henry Minor Faser (PhG., St. Louis School of Pharmacy, 1902; BSPh, UM, 1925) began working in a drugstore at age thirteen, practiced retail pharmacy, and was president of the Mississippi State Board of Pharmaceutical Examiners in 1915. He joined the university’s Pharmacy School in 1908 and was the first vice president of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy in 1927, president of the University of Mississippi Alumni Association in 1940–41, and the first dean of the School of Pharmacy, serving from 1914 until 1929.

Faser Hall honors his memory. (OM)

84

William Shryoc Hemingway (BP, UM, 1889; LLM, Millsaps, 1898) was both a mayor and a city attorney for Jackson, a member of the House of Representatives, president of the university’s alumni association in 1911–12, and a member of the law faculty from 1921 until 1930 and from 1932 until he retired.

He prepared a state code of laws, which came to be called the Hemingway Code.

He was a long-time chair of the athletics committee. The football stadium was named in his honor. (OM)

1914 to

Christopher Longest (BA, UM; graduate work at Johns Hopkins; PhD, Chicago; honorary degree from Mississippi College) was registrar from 1920 until 1930, director of the summer session for a number of years, chair of the Department of Modern Languages from 1947 until 1951, and, on occasion, acting chancellor when the chancellor was away from the office. The university’s annual Christopher Longest Lecture series honors his memory.

(OM)

85

1924

Edna Lowe Eatman was dean of women from 1918 until 1930. (OM)

The World of Sports Before the university had a swimming pool, students often swam at Baggett’s.

(OM)

1914

to

1924

Women’s tennis in 1912 looked to be a jolly affair. (ASC)

The men’s tennis team for 1915–16 at a court near the vicinity of the current physics building.

(OM)

James “Blind Jim” Ivy was a blind African-American who sold peanuts, candy, and pencils on the campus. Around 1896 he attended a baseball game to sell peanuts and began cheering loudly for the university team, which was being outscored by the University of Texas. The Mississippi team won, and Blind Jim became an unofficial cheerleader and later the unofficial dean of the freshman class and a kind of mascot for the athletic teams. Blind Jim died in 1955. (OM)

86

The football stadium. (ASC) The twenty-first football game with A&M took place in Jackson. (ASC)

1914

87

1924

In 1916 a campaign raised money for a new baseball grandstand. Additions were made in the early 1920s. (ASC)

to

The 1922 and 1923 cheerleaders took their jobs seriously. (ASC)

The university’s first radio station was located in the Barnard Observatory. (OM)

1914

to

1924

Campus Life

Faulkner participated in and penned drawings for Marionettes programs and marketing. He is listed as the property man for this particular show. (OM)

Some well-known persons participated in the Marionettes, a campus dramatic group. (OM)

88

Beginning in 1923, for a number of years the university sponsored Mothers’ Day programs. (ASC)

A sample cultural event in 1916 (ASC)

to

1924

89

Several classes left as memorials lamp standards with names of the class members on brass plates—1919, in the circle near the Confederate soldier monument; 1920, in the circle near the flag pole; 1921, near the east entrance to the Lyceum; 1922, in the circle about halfway between the flag pole and the Confederate monument; 1923, in the circle near Carrier Hall; 1924, near the Confederate monument. (GW)

1914

An elaborate ceremony in November 1916 accompanied the hoisting of a flag, for the first time, in the middle of the Circle. (OM)

1914

to

1924

In 1915 a new store opened on campus selling books, snacks, and sundries. Owned and operated by postmaster D. R. Johnson and student J. F. McCall, the building also included a barber shop and Tom and Spiro’s CafÊ, a favorite student meeting place. William Faulkner was postmaster in the building from 1921 until he was fired in 1924. The building was demolished in preparation for the construction of Faser Hall. (D. R. Johnson Family via T. J. Ray)

1914 to

1924

1924 to

191 4

Almost every student admitted to the infirmary in October 1918 was diagnosed with influenza. Schools, theatres, and churches were closed as a result of the flu epidemic. Approximately 250 students and a number of soldiers were diagnosed with the disease. The infirmary could not accommodate all of the ill, and the third floor of Gordon Hall was turned into a hospital. (ASC)

Some of the 1914 boarders at Ricks Hall (ASC)

Ahead of its time! (ASC)

92

In April 1920 the campus held an “Ole Miss in Overalls” event. (ASC) T. J. Crawley was the first president of the Associated Student Body (ASB). (OM)

1914 to

A number of works with the title “Alma Mater” went in and out of favor over the years. In 1921, Ben Wasson, who had received his law degree from the university that spring, wrote a work that was widely accepted at the time. Mrs. L. E. Oldham of Oxford wrote music for the lyrics. (ASC)

1924

93

Academic Offerings A 1915 advertisement for the university notes the availability of six different degree departments “complete in every particular,� as well as a campus location to be envied. (ASC)

The junior law class of 1917 (ASC)

1914

to

1924

Commerce courses were at first offered through political science and economics.

A formal program was approved in 1917.

(UM catalog)

By 1914 the Department of Engineering was well established. (OM)

A gross anatomy class at work on donated cadavers. (OM)

94

The Literati and Its Most FamousRepresentative The Ole Miss annual staff hard at work. (OM)

1914 to

1924 The Phi Sigma and Hermaean societies continued to hold court concerning intellectual and literary matters. (ASC)

95

A single issue of The Mississippian in 1923 sold for ten cents, while a year’s subscription was a bargain at two dollars. (TM)

1914

to

1924

William Faulkner in his late teens and twenties spent a good deal of time at the university. For a number of years he lived with his parents on the university campus (his father was business manager, his relatives were members of the board of trustees, a great aunt was a librarian). While living there, Faulkner participated in some student activities (including a drama group and a social fraternity), took a few classes as a special student, and published his earliest works. (ASC/ SOUTHERN MEDIA ARCHIVE)

Faulkner on more than one occasion contributed artwork to The Scream and Ole Miss annuals. (ASC)

For several years, Faulkner regularly contributed to the Ole Miss and The Mississippian.

(OM)

Faulkner published his first short story, “Landing in Luck,” in The Mississippian and later published a number of poems, stories, and reviews there. (He won a ten-dollar prize, offered by Calvin Brown, for the best poem published in the newspaper in 1919–20.) (TM)

96

The Campus Gets aMakeover Three new dormitories for men— Odom, LaBauve, and Deupree— were constructed to meet the growing demand for space.

Forming a quadrangle, each had thirty rooms; it was thought that smaller dorms were better than larger ones that encouraged rowdiness. (ASC)

1924

97

to

Ward Hall, the second dormitory for women on campus, was constructed in 1920; it was named after Dr. B.F. Ward of Winona. Connected to Ricks Hall by a new dining hall, the dorm had every modern convenience at the time and brought the full women’s housing capacity to 130 students. Ward was demolished in 1973 so the space could be used for a new student union building. (Mrs. Will Lewis, Sr.)

1914

George Hall, built in 1920 as a dormitory for sixty male students, was named in memory of General James Z. George. According to the university catalog, it was “located on grounds not heretofore included in the campus.” It was a men’s residence hall until 1973, when it was renovated for the Department of Communicative Disorders and the Speech and Hearing Clinic. It was further expanded and renovated in 1993. (ASC)

1924 to

1914

A new building was completed in 1923 for chemistry and pharmacy. The building was over forty-five thousand square feet and its equipment cost $350,000. A brochure stated that “no finer provision for instruction in these fields exists in the South.� After pharmacy moved from the building, chemistry occupied it until its move to a new building in 1977. In recent years the building has been used by such programs as art, physical acoustics, mineral resources, philosophy and religions, small business, and the graduate school and research. The building is being renovated for use by the School of Engineering. (ASC)

98

Renovations and additions to the Lyceum continued to transform the original building and create space for academic and administrative needs. In 1923 the west entrance gained a set of columns that mirrored those on the east side. (ASC)

World War I, of course, brought about many changes at colleges and universities. A “Military” section of the 1918 Ole Miss included photographs of the four military companies on the campus and gave brief biographies of many “University of Mississippi Men in the Military Service of the Country,” starting with the class of 1871. The first section of the 1919 yearbook was “Military.” It included photographs of thirteen former University of Mississippi students who had been killed, university companies, and faculty members in the military. (OM)

War Comes Again

1914 to

1924

On April 26, 1922, a sundial was placed near Ricks and Ward dormitories, honoring persons killed during World War I. (ASC)

The inscription on the sundial (ASC)

99



Concert Singers:

A Musical Memory from 1988

L

Like any other practice, it started with warming up. Stretches, followed by neck rolls, followed by shoulder rolls. Then very deep breaths—using the diaphragm, not just the lungs. Then there were panting exercises—a cross between mimicking a dog’s breathing and laughing.

Yawning in unison. Finally, they climbed up the scales, reaching ever higher to test the upper limits of their capabilities. And after Dr. Jerry Jordan had put them through twenty minutes of rigorous warm-ups, it was finally time for the University of Mississippi Concert Singers to do what they came to do: sing.

This scene played out five days a week in Meek Hall in the late 1980s, when Meek was

home to the Music Department. Dr. Jordan rarely took Fridays off and seldom cut practices short. He had an uncanny ear, able to identify an errant note by a single vocalist amidst an otherwise flawless performance.

During his twenty-one years as director, Jordan’s precision and relentless pursuit of vocal perfection is what molded Concert Singers into one of the most elite collegiate choral groups in America, if not the world—a point proven many times, including at the 1988 Florilège Vocal de Tours choral competition in Tours, France. The Concert Singers competed against other choirs from all over the world, performing several classical Latin selections, some Negro spirituals, and a special tribute to Norman Luboff, the acclaimed choral director and

100

 arranger. Though the group did not win the judge’s prize that year, they took great pride in winning the Prix du Publique, awarded to the audience’s favorite choir.

After the competition, the choir toured Paris and London, taking in the popular tourist sights: the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, cruises on both the River Seine and the Thames. There were occasional impromptu performances at hotels and in parks as well.

And while tourist visits alone at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and Westminster Abbey in London would have been memorable, the 1988–89 Concert Singers took it a step further: their vocal excellence earned them the privilege of performing inside these historic cathedrals.

Particularly memorable was the concert in massive Notre Dame. Made from solid rock, it is quite beautiful to look at. But between the stone construction and all the odd corners, the concert singers discovered that the place has horrible acoustics. One student remarked, “Imagine singing inside the Grand Canyon and you begin to get the idea.”

To this day, however, members of that choir remember how they hit the powerful last note of their performance. And they remember the chills that ran up their spine—not because of being in an immense stone structure, not because the acoustics were rough, but because they had done something they’d never imagined doing, something that few university choirs in the world can claim on their list of accomplishments.

They had brought the musical heart of Ole Miss to the other side of the world. ~Lee Eric Smith

101

1924–1932

Chancellor Hume was determined to do better than his predecessors.

1924 to

Chapter Five 1932 The Good Times Come

C

Crashing Down

Chancellor Hume was determined to do better than his predecessors. He started by meeting regularly with student groups to determine their wants and needs. Under his leadership, a student-loan program was formed, and the legislature appropriated $150,000 for the construction of Fulton Chapel; the old chapel now provided space for student activities and the YMCA, previously housed in the Lyceum. Money also became available for major upgrades in equipment for engineering. The University Extension began, Blind Jim (who sold peanuts and snacks on campus and who had become the beloved and unofficial cheerleadermascot of the athletic teams) was recognized as dean of the freshman class, and in 1927 the graduate school was formed, with Alexander Bondurant as the first dean.

The legislature also allowed fraternities to officially return to the campus in 1926, a move that greatly raised student morale. As enrollment in 1926–27 for the first time broke one thousand, campus life teemed with academic- and activity-related clubs: the Four Arts Club was founded; Pi Kappa Pi was established for the recognition of student academic performance; Phi Eta Sigma, an honorary society for freshmen, was formed; Blue Key was organized for students interested in service; and the Cardinal Club, “for the purpose of receiving and entertaining visiting athletes,”1 was established in 1927. Dr. Hume served on

the first Hall of Fame selection committee.

The creative arts flourished, as The Scream magazine sold its first issue, student W. F. Kahle penned the words for an alma mater, and power for the campus radio station (set up in the Physics and Astronomy Building in 1924 and run by students with faculty support) was increased to fifty watts. Programs could be heard as far away as Pennsylvania.

The Scream was a short-lived humor magazine published in the 1920s.

(ASC)

1924–1932: The Good Times Come Crashing Down Although the university’s female students and faculty had waged an uphill battle in terms of their credibility on campus, their presence became more solid. Mrs. Hume herself organized the University Dames to help not only female faculty but the wives of faculty feel welcome. And the first Miss Ole Miss was crowned in 1929.

Chancellor Hume had been successful in breaking free of his predecessors’ dark cloud and restoring faith in the university. One contribution in that regard was a prominent belief on which he stood firm: going against popular vote at the time, he refused to support an antievolution law because he felt that doing so would violate academic freedom. He said, “If [a university] were manned by men who are not intellectually free, I, for one, would prefer that a child of mine should never enter its doors.”2 It was a bold statement in a bold era of university history.

Physical changes to the campus continued to take place. In 1929 the legislature appropriated funds for a graduate school building to house the fledgling program. A new gymnasium, a high school (University High School), a new building for the School of Law, a cafeteria, six new dormitories for men and one for women, an auxiliary steam plant, a football stadium, and a field house soon followed. New roads were built, and there was even discussion of the construction of a new hospital.

The response? Enrollment soared over twelve hundred.

AlFred Hume was born in Tennessee in 1866.

He was a member of the varsity baseball team and active in the Beta Theta Pi social fraternity at Vanderbilt, where he received a bachelor’s degree in engineering in 1887 and another in civil engineering the next year. He stayed there as a fellow until he completed his doctorate in 1890.

In 1890, Hume accepted a professorship in mathematics at the University of Mississippi. In 1900 he began teaching civil engineering as well.

In 1905 he became dean of the College of Liberal Arts. He concurrently served as vice chancellor (and acting chancellor in 1906–07) until 1924.

Hume took over the reins as chancellor from 1924 until 1930, when he was fired by Governor Bilbo after serving the university for forty years.

(ASC)

105

The UniversiTy of Mississippi

There was still, however, contention regarding the university itself. Governor Theodore Bilbo made a strong case for moving the university to Jackson, but Chancellor Hume pleaded (successfully) that the move not take place. This rankled Governor Bilbo, who strongly believed Hume “temperamentally unfit” to lead a major university. Indeed, although Hume was extremely popular, there were those who felt him overly devout—to the point of comments about “Hume’s Presbyterian University.”3 Bilbo let it become known that, if elected a second time, he would not keep Hume in his position (the governor chaired and therefore greatly influenced the board of trustees).

Students were naturally upset about this “persistent rumor that the Governor of Mississippi has formed the intention of removing Dr. Alfred Hume as Chancellor of this institution.”4 In certainly one of the longest editorials ever written in support of a university chancellor, a student wrote of Dr. Hume’s “executive ability . . . scholastic attainment . . . [and] his character and the respect which he enjoys from alumni, faculty, students, and Mississippians at large.”5 But in the end Bilbo was reelected, and by a board vote of six to four, Hume was replaced by a returning Joseph Neely Powers in 1930. Eighteen faculty members and thirteen staff members were also terminated, and a number of administrators were demoted. (It was believed Governor Bilbo maintained a list of who supported and didn’t support him politically.

A publication of the Mississippi Education Association reported, “Everybody knows that two motives were uppermost, namely, to punish enemies and to reward friends”).6 Journalist Fred Sullens wrote of the excessive overhaul, which also affected the Woman’s College at Columbus, the Teachers’ College at Hattiesburg, and the Agricultural and Mechanical College at Starkville, “The University of Mississippi has been well-nigh slaughtered to make a Roman holiday.”7 The backlash was immediate and severe; as a result of the upheaval the university lost its accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools:

106

1924–1932: The Good Times Come Crashing Down

“

[The accrediting association] condemns with all possible

emphasis the ruthless manner in which the board of trustees, having control of [the universities involved], recently took action against administrative officers, teachers, and employees of these institutions. The wholesale dropping of scores of officers and teachers without warning, without charges, without the opportunity of defense, without action by the administrative head of the institution, puts such board outside the category of educational bodies . . . . In view of these facts we recommend that the four institutions . . . be suspended from membership in this association until time shall prove the existence of an

”

educational and non-political administration.

8

As one historian wrote, “The next two years were ones which most Mississippians would like to forget.”9 About all Chancellor Powers could do during those two years (1930–32) was try to hold an unaccredited institution of higher learning together. Faculty salaries were reduced by 25 percent, and many professors were not paid on time. Enrollment in 1929– 30 was 1,254; in 1931–32 it was down to 778. Morale at the university was terrible. The Depression had hit and the economy was in shambles.

The future of Ole Miss did not look bright.

107

The UniversiTy of Mississippi

Ole Miss

An unidentified student editorial writer for The Mississippian wrote: “The name ‘Ole Miss’ is the private property of the University of Mississippi. It first came into existence as the title of the yearbook, but was later adapted to the institution as a whole. It is undisputedly a University product, intended solely for reference to the University. Whatever else may be said in comparison of Ole Miss with other schools, it cannot be denied that in respect to name it stands prominent. Nowhere else is there a name so beautiful and appropriate.”1 It all began in 1896 when editors of the university’s first yearbook asked for suggested titles and student Elma Meek submitted the phrase “Ole Miss.” Ms. Meek later said, “I never dreamed, of course, that the term would grow into such popularity.”2 Indeed, the nickname is now synonymous with the university—its very informality showing an affection that goes beyond mere loyalty. It represents the more personal, the more sentimental, aspect of the university.

A university public relations official provided information on the background of the term:

“

In the pre-Civil War days, household servants would refer

to the man of the house as ‘Ole Marster,’ to the daughter as ‘Lil Miss’; and in speaking of the gracious lady of the household

they would, with respect and affection, say ‘Ole Miss.’ This is another way of saying ‘Alma Mater.’ It is a term of endearment which means the University of Mississippi. Ole Miss was first applied as the name of the yearbook. Now it is world famous as

”

a reference to the University of Mississippi.

108

3

1924–1932: The Good Times Come Crashing Down The connection to “Ole Miss” is not just a modern one, either. Its appeal was instantaneous.

When Bilbo tried to move the university from Oxford to Jackson, Chancellor Hume implored,

“

Gentlemen, you may move the University of Mississippi.

You may move it to Jackson or anywhere else. You may uproot it from the hallowed ground on which it has stood for eighty years. You may take it from these surroundings that have become dear to the thousands who have gone from its doors.

”

But, gentlemen, don’t call it Ole Miss.

4

In the end, perhaps some of the best words to describe the legacy of the university’s beloved nickname can be taken from “An Ode to Ole Miss,” written by alumnus Frank E. Everett, Jr., in 1971:

“

There is a valid distinction between the University and Ole

Miss even though the separate threads are closely interwoven.

The University is buildings, trees, and people. Ole Miss is

mood, emotion, and personality. One is physical and the other is spiritual. One is tangible, and the other intangible. The University is respected, but Ole Miss is loved. The University gives a diploma and regretfully terminates tenure, but one never graduates from Ole Miss . . . .

”

In short, Ole Miss is us.

109

5

The UniversiTy of Mississippi

This version of the university’s “Alma Mater,” written by Mrs. A. W. Kahle, has remained the university’s standard since it was written in 1925. (OM)

110

University alumnus William Bedkwith sculpted an image of William Faulkner sitting on a bench in front of City Hall on the Oxford Square.

People of Influence

1924

to

1932

Ella Somerville, daughter of law dean Thomas Somerville, participated in the Marionettes, assisted Dr. Hume with a Hall of Fame project, and operated the Tea Hound, a favorite student meeting place in the 1920s and 1930s. (OM)

Charles Bowen Howry, son of Judge James Moorman Howry, received his law degree (LLD) from the university in 1867. He was a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1880 until 1884, United States district attorney from 1885 until 1889, assistant attorney general of the United States from 1893 until 1896, and judge of the United States Court of Claims from 1897 until 1915. He was a longtime member of the board of trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and practiced law in Oxford with J. W. T. Falkner. Howry Hall is named in his honor. (ASC)

112

Alexander Bondurant (AB, 1884, and AM, 1892, Hampden-Sydney College; AM, 1893, Harvard; LLD, 1921, Mississippi College; LittD, 1926, Hampden-Sydney College; graduate work at the University of Texas, the University of Virginia, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and universities in Munich, Berlin, and Rome) became a professor of Latin and Greek in 1889 and was the first dean of the Graduate School, serving from 1927–30 and again from 1932–36.

Although an outstanding scholar and administrator, he is remembered most because he coached the university’s first football team and suggested red and blue for the university’s colors. Bondurant Hall, which he planned, is named in his honor. (OM)

1924 to

1932

Malcolm Guess (BS, 1913, MA, 1930, UM; LLD, 1954, Millsaps College) was general secretary of the YMCA at the University of Georgia, worked with the YMCA overseas during World War I, was general secretary of the YMCA at the University of Mississippi from 1921 until 1932, and a beloved dean of men from 1932 until 1955. Guess Hall honors his memory. (OM)

113

THe World of Sports A hurdler (ASC)

1924

to

1932

By 1930, the women’s basketball program was well established. Thankfully, full skirts were no longer required for players. (ASC)

Coach Sullivan initiated boxing as a university sport in 1931.

Sammy Kyzar was the first student boxer. (OM)

On November 19, 1926, The Mississippian carried a version of the pep yell that eventually became well known on campus. (TM) The basketball team was the conference leader in 1928. (ASC)

114

115

1932

Tadpole makes an eighty-five-yard run. (OM)

to

Claude Maxwell “Tad� Smith lettered in three sports at the university before graduating in 1930. Beginning that fall, he coached freshmen in football, basketball, and baseball. From 1931 until 1943 and from 1946 until 1950 he was head basketball coach; he was also the freshman football coach for twelve years. An officer on military leave during World War II, he was named director of intercollegiate athletics in 1946 and held that position until he retired in the early 1970s. He is a member of the university and Mississippi Sports Halls of Fame. The basketball coliseum is named in his honor. (OM)

1924

The annual Thanksgiving games against A&M have long excited university family and friends.

(ASC)

1924

to

1932

The Field House, located near the stadium, was completed in 1929 and dedicated at Homecoming in October 1930. It contained dressing rooms, lockers, showers, and athletic equipment. It was later named the Doc Knight Field House, honoring Wesley Irving Knight. It was doubled in size in 1951 and has seen a number of renovations and expansions since that time. (ASC)

1924 to

1932

Campus Life

The student Hall of Fame began in 1929 when McDonald Kelso Horne suggested it over coffee with law student Tom Brady in Tom and Spiro’s Café. The first members are shown here. (OM)

1924

to

1932

Clubs in every form remained an important aspect of students’ social lives. (OM)

Although graduate-level classes had been offered much earlier, the 1927–28 catalog showed the creation of a new, independent Graduate School. (UM catalog)

In 1929 the university began the practice of naming a Miss Ole Miss each year.

Charlsie Elizabeth Anderson was the first. (OM)

118

The 1927 Ole Miss quoted the Zeller Bill regarding the reauthorization of Greek organizations on the campus. (OM)

1924 to

1932 William Faulkner, named posthumously to the Alumni Hall of Fame in 1980, worked in the university power plant and said he wrote As I Lay Dying with the noise of the dynamo in the background. (OM)

In the 1920s one could have his summer union suit cleaned for only a dime. (ASC)

119

After Fulton Chapel was openend, the previous chapel became the student center. The auditorium chairs were removed, and the first floor became a lobby and reading room, with a piano, magazines and newspapers, a Victrola, a radio, and a telephone. The gallery on the second level was closed in and made into a full floor. Student publications were housed on the second floor. Literary societies kept their space on the third floor. Over the years the building was used for activities ranging from speech therapy to art instruction, but more and more it became the home of student religious organizations and advisement for international students. (ASC)

1924

to

1932

It is widely believed that students who lived in Vardaman Hall become very successful. (ASC)

An archway marked the entrance to the Lovers’ Lane path that led from what is now Fraternity Row to the Confederate Cemetery. (Museum: Cofield)

120

With Fulton Chapel under construction, the old chapel building was used largely by the YMCA and YWCA and came to be called “the Y,� though in 1927 it was officially called the Student Activity Building. (OM)

1924 to

121

1932

Class gifts to the university have always been popular.

The graduating class of 1927 donated to the university a large Seth Thomas clock to be installed above the columns at the front of the Lyceum building. The gift of the class of 1929 was two large pillars at the east entrance to the campus. The pillars have been replaced, but the marker remains. (ASC)

You’re Invited

1924

to

1932

Cultural events aplenty (ASC)

122

1924 to

The new gymnasium became home to many socials and dances. (TM)

1932

Even during Depression years students with seventy-five cents could hear Shakespeare. (ASC)

Sororities often had dances at the Tea Hound. (ASC)

123

A 1927 map shows an expanding campus. (ASC)

1924

to

1932

An Explosion of Growth

Fulton Chapel saw its first use at commencement in the spring of 1927. Chancellor Hume was extremely proud of the chapel because of its beauty, symmetry, and strength. He considered it appropriate as a building named after Chancellor Fulton and his outstanding service to the university. The four columns are of Indiana limestone. The chapel, the university’s largest auditorium until the construction of the Gertrude Ford Performing Arts Center, was used for large classes, meetings, musical and theatrical performances, ballets, speeches, pageants, concerts, initiations, commencements, and other activities. (ASC)

124

The Alexander L. Bondurant Graduate Building was constructed in 1929. Dr. Bondurant, who planned the building, never dreamed it would bear his name. (ASC)

1924

In 1928 Dean Alexander Bondurant wrote this to the chancellor: “In construction of such a building beauty should be an important consideration. The School of Liberal Arts first constituted the whole of this Institution. The Graduate School should be the culmination of the School of Liberal Arts and should be housed in a building whose beauty, durability, and adaptation to the purpose for which it has been planned should be second to none.” He stated that it “should be so constructed that it may suitably house the Graduate School fifty years from now.” A plaque at the front and an inscription at the back of the Bondurant Hall still carry the “graduate school” designation. For many years the graduate dean had an office in the building, which, during its history, has served as the home for most of the humanities, arts, and social science departments. It was renovated in 2000 at a cost of $2.5 million and rededicated on January 24, 2001. It is home to the English and modern languages departments. (ASC)

to

1932

A classroom in Bondurant Hall (ASC)

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1932 to

1924

In May of 1925 Chancellor Hume, joined by many others, began a campaign to raise private money for a new gymnasium.

The building, completed in 1929, could seat three thousand spectators and contained exercise rooms, wrestling and boxing rooms, offices, and volleyball and handball courts. The main basketball court and two smaller ones were located on the second floor. Many steel supports and a skylight were major features. It was used often for concerts, registration, and dances, as well as by the basketball team and athletic association until 1965, when a new coliseum was built. The Physical Education Department continued to use the building after basketball moved to the Lyceum. After the Turner Center was completed, the old gymnasium provided space for faculty offices and classrooms for history, English, theater arts, the Chancellor Emeritus, and the library. Following a major renovation and expansion, it became the Martindale Student Services Center. (ASC)

Lamar Hall, built for the School of Law, included classrooms, offices, and an auditorium used for practicing case arguments and courts. The Mississippi Law Journal also had space in the building. Writing in the February 9, 1929, issue of The Mississippian, a student wrote that the new law school building would be “one of the most complete and best equipped law schools in the nation.” The building would “be of the Colonial style, of red brick and white facing and red tyle roof.” After the Law School moved to a new building in 1978, Lamar Hall was renamed Farley Hall, after three generations of Farleys. It currently houses the Journalism Department. (Carolyn Ellis Staton)

Completed in time for use in the fall of 1930, the wellequipped University High School building opened for students from Oxford and the university. Teaching was overseen by experienced teachers, and many of the instructors also taught at the university. When Oxford built its own high school in 1963, the building was used by the School of Education until it moved to Guyton Hall in 2004. The building currently houses the music department. (ASC)

126

127

1932

Isom Hall was completed in 1929 as a dormitory for sixty female students. It was named in memory of Sarah McGehee Isom, the university’s first female faculty member. A student guide reports that it “stands as a monument to the history of education for women at the University.” It was, appropriately, the first home of the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies.

Theater Arts currently occupies the building, located conveniently to Fulton Chapel. (ASC)

to

As enrollment increased, it became necessary to build a new dining hall.

The $150,000 cafeteria, named in memory of Paul B. Johnson, opened at the beginning of the fall semester of 1931–32. The new state-of-the-art cafeteria could accomodate up to two thousand students per hour. Since the construction of a new cafeteria in 1963, the original building has provided space for private dining rooms, a ballroom, a clothing store, the telephone exchange, a bookstore, the faculty credit union, the band, Naval Science, student counseling, Human Resources, and Special Events. It currently houses the Sarah Isom Center for Woman and Gender Studies and Special Events and Protocol and has a much-used ballroom. (OM)

1924

The law library in what is now Farley Hall (ASC)

1924

to

1932

Howry Hall, named in honor of Charles B. Howry of Oxford, has been in continuous use as a residence hall since 1929. (OM)

In 1929 the campus was graced with six new dormitories for men. Fitted with the latest in modern conveniences, Howry, Falkner, Barr, Hill, Vardaman, and Longstreet Halls accommodated sixty students each—effectively doubling the university’s male occupancy capacity. (OM)

Members of the football team, who had previously lived in the west section of Gordon Hall, and four assistant coaches moved into Barr Hall when it was completed in 1929. In 1974 Barr Hall was renovated and has provided space on occasion for Classics, the Honors Program, Music, and the African-American Studies Program. Named in memory of Hugh A. Barr of Lafayette, Barr Hall is currently the home of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. (GW)

128

Falkner Hall was named for Judge J.W. T. Falkner, Sr., of Oxford. It is currently used as a residence hall for women students. (Ray Holder, ASC)

1924 to

1932

Vardaman Hall

Hill Hall

Longstreet Hall was named in memory of Chancellor Augustus Baldwin Longstreet. It was last used as a residence hall in 1973 and currently houses the departments of Social Work and African-American Studies. (GW)

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

James “Blind Jim” Ivy: A Beloved Man on Campus

L

Long before Ole Miss was integrated, one black man won the hearts and loyalty of many Ole Miss students, faculty, and staff. For sixty years, James “Blind Jim” Ivy, a peanut and candy vendor on campus, was an unofficial mascot for the school and self-appointed “Dean of Freshmen.” Blind since a teenager, he was known for his humorous saying: “I’ve never seen the Rebels lose a game.” It has even been speculated that the figure of “Colonel Rebel” is based on Ivy.

Ivy, a tall, distinguished man, dressed impeccably in a black suit and white shirt. He used

a cane and often wore a wide-brimmed hat. His unique status on campus began in 1896, at a baseball game. The team ran into trouble, and he cheered loudly, calling out “Hey! We’re gonna beat ’em.” When the team finally won, they credited his cheering. From then until his death in 1955, his loyalty to the football, basketball, and baseball teams, along with his optimism, perseverance, and humor endeared him to many people.

Ivy often sat on the front stage during pep rallies. He also traditionally addressed the freshman class on the Thursday evening of their first week at school, and led the freshmen men in a pajama parade. He was such a fixture at athletic events that reporters covering them often interviewed him for their newspaper or radio.

In 1931, a private vendor took over campus food services and required that all other food vendors, including Ivy, leave campus. But students rallied to support him and he was allowed to remain. In 1936, when he was about to lose his home to foreclosure, students and alumni raised about $425 to help him.

130

 In 1955, Ivy became too ill to attend Homecoming. A committee was formed to see to his needs; they raised more than $1,100, later used to pay his medical and burial expenses.

When Ivy died October 20 of that year, The Daily Mississippian student newspaper ran a huge front-page banner headline and news story. Because he had gained celebrity status by then, several regional newspapers also reported the news of his passing, along with his story. His memorial service at Second Baptist Church in Oxford, an all-black church, was a precedent-shattering integrated affair attended by more than five hundred people. The crowd was so large that many people could not even get in the door. The headline in the Oxford Eagle the next day read, “Blind Jim Mourned by Both Races.” Two Ole Miss staff members, Director of Student Placement Dr. George Street and Provost Dr. Alton Bryant, gave eulogies at the service, along with UM student body president Jim Child.

In his eulogy, Street said of Ivy, “Few other people, in my acquaintance, will leave to the living a greater challenge for overcoming handicaps or for creating a place for themselves in such a way that the world seems to be a better place in which to live.” ~Robin Street

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1932–1945

Highly regarded Alfred Hume returned to the chancellorship in 1932 and “found the institution in dire straits.”

1932 to

Chapter Six 1945 The Hits Keep Coming

H

Highly regarded Alfred Hume returned to the chancellorship in 1932 and “found the institution in dire straits.”1 He quickly set about to fix the problem. Working with new

governor Martin Sennet Conner, who had appointed a new board, he restored accreditation to the school. A new Medical School building was planned, new roads and sidewalks were completed, and the smokestack at the power plant was rebuilt—all with funding from the state legislature. On the academic front, a four-year pharmacy program began. Enrollment reached its highest point ever—almost thirteen hundred during the 1934–35 year. And to foster pride, in 1934 the chancellor chaired a committee to name the most outstanding alumni of the university.

After a quick several years, however, Hume resigned from his position in 1935 at age sixty-eight (although he served again from 1942–44 and during the summer of 1945 while his successor, Chancellor Butts, was on active duty). He remained on campus as professor of mathematics.

Dr. A. B. Butts, “the University of Mississippi’s best educated and most visionary chancellor since Frederick Barnard,” took over the reins after Hume’s exit. In his inaugural speech Butts noted, “Universities must be mindful of the economic, political, and social life of the nation.”2 He made known his view that faculty members should have terminal degrees, and he secured funding for greatly increasing library holdings. He also worked hard to provide better facilities to meet the needs of a rapidly growing student body.

Constructed were a medical school building and infirmary, six dormitories, a student union building, about twenty fraternity and sorority houses, over twenty faculty houses, a large apartment complex, a swimming pool, a physics building, an observatory, a football stadium,

The UniversiTy of Mississippi

and facilities for golf and tennis. A four-lane bridge was constructed over the railroad and the Hilgard Cut. Care was taken as well to foster social awareness in the university students. A Reserve Officers Training Corps program was begun, along with a clinic for crippled children (staffed in part by medical students). A chapter of Omicron Delta Kappa was established in 1936.

Mortar Board, a leadership society for women, was instituted. The Committee of 100, a group of students whose major function was to plan and help carry out an annual Religious Emphasis Week, was founded. And the student class of 1937 purchased pillars for the north entrance to Sorority Row. Athletics at this time was going strong. Facilities were improved (a new football stadium was proposed as a WPA project in 1936 and completed in 1941). The football team played their first bowl game in the Orange Bowl in 1936 and traveled to a game by plane in 1937— the first team to do so. Frank “Bruiser” Kinard became the university’s first All-American athlete in 1936 (and again in 1937), followed by Bonnie Graham (basketball) and Parker Hall (football) in 1938.

After being fired by Governor Bilbo, AlFred Hume taught at Southwestern at Memphis (now Rhodes College) during 1930–31 and was president of Branham and Hughes Military Academy in 1931–32. He returned to the university as chancellor once more in 1932 and served until 1935. Then, while Chancellor Butts was on military duty from 1942–44, Hume again became acting chancellor, the fourth time he served as chief executive. He died on December 25, 1950. Still teaching at the time of his death, he had served the university for fiftyeight years. (OM)

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1932–1945: The Hits Keep Coming In part because the teams were successful enough to warrant it and in part to encourage spirit, a contest was held to nickname the university teams. After a lively round of propositions, they were christened the Rebels. (Earlier names were the Mississippi Eleven, the Crimson and Blue, the Red and Blue, the Southerners, the Mighty Mississippians, and the Mississippi Flood.) The first Colonel Rebel, beloved mascot of the school, was named in 1940.

Alas, this rosy period in university history was not to last. The advent of World War II brought an immediate drop in enrollment—from almost 1,500 in 1939 to 654 in 1943—and in the coming years at least 159 university students lost their lives. Student-body presidents Herman Baxter, Gus Gerard, and Billy Charles Sam were among them. And as before, a number of military programs, such as the Specialized Training and Reassignment unit, were installed on the campus. The campus “took on the appearance of a military post.”3 There was perhaps one good effect of the war on the campus: partly due to the lack of men, Maralyn Howell became the first woman to serve as president of the student body (in 1943–44). In fact, women served in many leadership roles with the full support of the student body, as well as the faculty and administration. The entire campus supported the war effort; students gave parties and dances for the military personnel, and many female students met their future husbands when the soldiers arrived for training on campus.

But many alumni at this time were unhappy about university administration. Butts had been a visionary leader, but he was away from the university during much of the war, and when he returned to the campus he faced postwar problems. University historian Allen Cabaniss explained:

“

The faculty had begun to prepare for the onrush of

returning veterans. Arrangements were made for the purchase and distribution of books and supplies under the appropriate governmental agencies . . . . By the autumn of 1945 the returning soldier was a reality at the University of Mississippi.

135

The UniversiTy of Mississippi

The attendance during that session, 1945–46, was 2005, the largest enrollment in the history of the institution and two and a half times that of the preceding year. The University staggered under the impact. A rapid increase of the faculty became imperative, as well as the necessity of a vast building program to take care of the tremendous growth. It was indeed a more immediate and serious crisis for the University than the war had been. Nerves were taut. The new professors were complaining about the shortage or the inadequacy of housing.

The GIs were incensed over the long cafeteria lines in which they were compelled to wait for meals. Those on waiting lists were clamoring for admission.

”

4

It was an ugly situation, compounded by frustration over the fact that the university’s appointed leader had been absent from home for some time. Once again there was not enough space for either students or faculty; temporary buildings were thrown together quickly. Students didn’t like the food. The veterans didn’t like the rules and regulations.

Nor did the female students; they had finally been allowed on campus but were strictly monitored—to the point they were even told when to take showers in the dormitories.

There was also widespread unhappiness with the football coach. The team had three losing seasons. Even worse, Coach Mehre was charged with being so inebriated during a game that he was unable to coach. In a bold (and ultimately reckless) move, Chancellor Butts dismissed the football coach. In an even bolder one, the board dismissed the chancellor. The university was once again without leadership.

136

1932–1945: The Hits Keep Coming

AlFred BenJAmin Butts was born in North Carolina in 1890, but his family moved to Mississippi when he was a child. He received a BS in 1911 and an MS in 1913 from what was then the Agricultural and Mechanical College of the State of Mississippi (now Mississippi State University). He then received an MA from Columbia University in 1915. Five years later he received a PhD in political science from Columbia. He then took a law degree from Yale University in 1930.

Butts joined the A&M faculty in 1921 and became a vice president in 1930. He was named chancellor of the University of Mississippi in 1935 and had a successful career, overcoming many Depression problems and seeing the university through World War II. After Butts left the university, he worked in Washington, D. C., directing the post-graduate work of army officers at universities throughout the country.

He died in 1962. (OM)

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People of Influence

1932

to

1945

Mary Skipwith Buie was born in New Orleans in 1855. Her family moved to Oxford about 1872. After marrying Henry Buie, she moved to Chicago, where she was an artist and designer for Marshall Field’s. She moved back to Oxford, where she planned a museum that was given to the city of Oxford in 1939. The Buie Museum is named in her memory. Her sister, Kate, supervised the construction of the museum. (ASC)

Paul Burney Johnson, Sr., attended Harperville College and earned a law degree at Millsaps; he was admitted to the bar in 1903. He practiced law, was a city court judge in Hattiesburg, and was a circuit judge. He served two terms in the United States House of Representatives (1919–23), became governor in 1940, and died in office in 1943. During his term a law was passed to give free textbooks to public school students. The Paul B. Johnson commons building was named in his memory. (MDAH)

Billy Sylvester Guyton (BS, 1908, Mississippi College; BS, 1910, MS, 1911, UM; MD, 1913, Virginia; internships at Martha Jefferson Sanatorium, Orange Memorial Hospital, and the University of Colorado) joined the university faculty in 1915 as a professor of pathology and bacteriology. He was dean of the School of Medicine from 1936 until 1945. Guyton Hall is named in his honor. (OM)

138

Estella Gardner Hefley (BA, Randolph Macon; MA, Vanderbilt University; graduate work, Oxford University in England, Columbia University, the University of Virginia, and Duke University) was dean of faculty at Ward-Belmont College (1914–18), dean of women at Texas State College (1918–33), and dean of women at the university from 1933 until 1957. A historical marker on the campus points out that Hefley planted a row (between the chapel and Guyton Hall) of magnolia trees in 1945 “as a living memorial to the Ole Miss students who died for their country during World War II.” Hefley Hall is named in her honor. (OM)

1932

David Horace Bishop (BA, 1891, Emory & Henry; MA, 1897, Vanderbilt University; LLD, 1930, Emory & Henry; graduate work at Columbia University) taught at Vanderbilt University and Millsaps College before joining the English department at the university in 1904. He worked for the YMCA. in Europe during World War I. He was a longtime chair of the English department, vice chancellor from 1932 until 1935, dean of the faculty from 1936 until 1946, and dean of the graduate school during 1940–41. Bishop Hall is named in his memory. (OM)

to

1945

Jamie Whitten studied literature and law at the university, where he was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa and Phi Alpha Delta. He was admitted to the bar in 1932. He served in the Mississippi State Legislature and was district attorney for the 17th District. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1941 and served until 1995—a record for length of service in the United States Congress. For many years he was chairman of the Appropriations Committee. He is the author of the book For Us, the Living. The National Center for Physical Acoustics bears his name. (OM)

139

William F. Winter (BA, 1947; JD, 1949) was named to the Hall of Fame in 1944, was in military service during World War II, was a member of the state House of Representatives, a legislative assistant to John Stennis, state tax collector, state treasurer, lieutenant governor, and governor (from 1980 until 1984). He once declined an offer to become chancellor.

During the fall of 1989 he held the Jamie L. Whitten Chair of Law and Government. The William Winter Professorship of History recognizes his numerous contributions to the state and university. The William F. Winter Archives and History Building in Jackson and the Institute for Racial Reconciliation at the university are named in his honor. He was named to the Alumni Hall of Fame in 1989. (OM)

The World of Sports

1932

to

1945

The university lost to Catholic University by one point at the Orange Bowl on January 1, 1936. (ASC)

A buck sixty-five was the cost of a football game in 1935. (UMA) Frank “Bruiser� Kinard (BSC, 1938), a tackle on the football team and a member of the student hall of fame in 1937, was the first university student to be named an All-American athlete (1936 and 1937). He was a charter member of the National Football Hall of Fame and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. He was an assistant football coach at the university from 1948 until 1970, director of athletics from 1971 until 1973, and assistant dean of students from 1973 until 1978. He was named to the Alumni Hall of Fame in 1980. Kinard Hall is named in his honor. (ASC)

140

The football team flew from Memphis to Philadelphia in 1937, the first college team to fly en masse. (UM Athletics Media Relations)

Billy Gates, a 1938 graduate, while sports editor of The Mississippian began the effort that resulted in changing the name of the sports teams from “the Flood” to “the Rebels.” The longtime director of sports information was posthumously elected to Mississippi Sports Writers Hall of Fame in 1981. (OM) Bonnie L. Graham (BSHPE, 1939, MEd, 1954) was named an All-American basketball player in 1938.

He was the head basketball coach at the university from 1950 until 1962. (OM)

1932 to

The practice of electing a Colonel Reb each year began in 1940. Ado Dunagin was the first.

(OM)

1945

Harry J. Mehre was head football coach from 1938 until 1946. He also served as director of athletics before leaving during a tumultuous turnover in staff. (OM)

The west side of a new football stadium was completed in 1938 with WPA labor and money. Later a duplicate was built for the east section, giving a total seating capacity of twenty thousand if chairs were set up in the end zones. The stadium, named in memory of Judge William Hemingway, has been extended on a number of occasions. Here we imagine how hot the sun was on the shaved heads of university freshmen.

(UM Museums)

141

1945 1932

to

Blind Jim was a favorite cheerleader. (OM)

The 1935–36 basketball team included not only Country Graham (2) but also football stars Bruiser Kinard (3) and Buster Poole (directly behind Kinard). (OM)

Boxing was a favorite sport for a number of years. (OM)

142

The track team for 1938–39 (OM)

Tennis courts behind Bondurant Hall. (ASC)

1932 to

1945 Twirlers and majorettes are an important part of athletic events. (OM) Cary Middlecoff (BA, 1941) was a 1939 All-American golfer who had a successful career as a professional. He is a member of the PGA World Golf Hall of Fame.

(OM)

A Works Project Administration grant of twenty thousand dollars supported the construction of a swimming pool just west of the gymnasium, with showers and lockers inside the gymnasium. (OM)

143

The inauguration ceremony for Dr. Butts was held on October 19, 1935. (ASC)

1932

to

1945

Campus Life

Editing the yearbook and student newspaper have been major activities involving many dedicated and talented students. (OM) Maralyn Howell was president of the ASB in 1944, the first female to serve in that role. (OM) The Tassel, a senior honorary society for women, was established in 1937. The 1940 members are pictured below. (OM)

144

The Friends of the Library organized in 1941.

Regular dues were three dollars per year. Plates like that pictured above are placed in books when they are purchased through Friends of the Library. (ASC)

1932 to

1945

In 1936 it was announced that the university would host an ROTC unit. All freshmen were eligible; time spent training could be counted as elective hours. (OM)

Chancellor Butts’s daughter showed her support of the ROTC programs.

(OM)

Drama has always been an important activity at the university. (OM)

The Mississippians have provided musical entertainment through the years.(ASC)

145

The university marching band has participated in many parades. (OM)

1932

to

1945

Numerous students during the years have played in The Collegians band. (OM)

Students, of course, have always enjoyed cafeteria food. (OM)

146

The Cardinal club sometimes participated in parades. (OM)

An age of no backpacks, no laptop computers, and no cell phones! (OM)

to

Graduates file into Fulton Chapel. (OM)

1932

Students check their mail in the Union in Weir Hall. (OM)

1945

An early lawnmower (OM)

147

A Full Social Agenda

1932

to

1945

The Weir Memorial Building (the Student Union Building) was constructed in 1939 with finances from the Public Works Administration and the Rush C. Weir estate. With room for student activities, publications, meetings, and alumni space, along with a cafĂŠ (the Grill), a post office, a beauty parlor and barber shop, bookstore, and shopping, it provided anything and everything a student might need. The building was renovated for the computer center in 1978 and later for the Computer and Information Science Department. It also houses the Galtney Center, the Faculty Technology Development Center, the Help Desk, and computer labs. (ASC)

From 1939 until 1976 the Grill was by far the most popular place on the campus. Students had meals or snacks there, met there between classes or after programs in Fulton Chapel, played cards, arranged dates, discussed politics and philosophical issues, played the jukebox, and danced. (OM)

148

Famous groups, including the Kay Kyser Band, were brought to the campus for dances. (OM)

Students visited in the stands during dance intermissions at the gym. (OM)

1932 to

For many years the Lyric and Ritz theaters in Oxford showed great movies. (OM)

1945

149

1932

to

1945

Neilson’s has been a longtime favorite store for university students, faculty, and staff (OM).

Al Key visits the university in the famous “Ole Miss” plane.

(OM)

Twilight Musicals were favorites. (ASC)

150

Nino Martini was a big hit. (ASC)

1932 to

1945

151

The Artists’ Series has brought outstanding groups to the campus each year since 1938. (ASC)

1932

to

1945

Academic Offerings

152

“Learn how to count those pills.�

Pharmacy students at work. (OM)

Law students work on the Mississippi Law Journal. (OM)

1932 to

“Why do we have to wear ties in a lab?” (ASC)

1945

153

1932

to

1945

“Now, why do I need to know about the Codes of Nebraska if I just want to go into Mississippi politics?� (ASC)

“So why is PE required in the first place?” (ASC)

1932 to

1945

A typing class on the third floor of the Lyceum (UM Museums)

A university chapter of Omicron Delta Kappa was established on February 3, 1936. (Sparky Reardon)

155

Ever Expanding

1932

to

1945

A 1940 aerial view of much of the campus (ASC)

The University and General Hospital was completed in 1934 and later named Guyton Hall in honor of Dean Billy S. Guyton. It housed pathology, pharmacology, bacteriology, physiology, the out-patient clinic, the Rowland Medical Library, the student health service, and the hospital ward. After the medical center moved to Jackson in 1955, the building was used as the Student Health Service until 1991, when the Harrison Student Health Center was constructed. The building was then used by ROTC units from 1991 until 2004, when the renovated building became the home for the School of Education. (ASC)

156

1945

157

to

An early classroom in Lewis Hall (ASC)

1932

A 1939 brochure described the new physics building: “This structure contains research laboratories, a general physics laboratory, classrooms, a light laboratory, an electrical laboratory, a dark room and photographic laboratory, a library, a lecture room equipped with a fire-proof projection room, a shop, a room for a gas machine, a room for the generator system, offices, and storage rooms.” Although “Physics” was engraved over the entrance, a plaque on the inside of the new building called it a “Science Building.” In 1984 it was named Lewis Hall, honoring Arthur B. Lewis, a former department chair and Liberal Arts dean. Today modern technology is used in teaching; a lecture hall contains a state-of-the-art mulitmedia production system. (ASC)

The Mary Buie Museum was dedicated on August 24, 1939. Frank Purser gave the invocation, Calvin Brown gave an appreciation, Will Lewis made the presentation, and Oxford mayor R. W. Williams accepted. (ASC)

The Observatory is still used as a laboratory for hundreds of astronomy students each semester. (ASC) Gordon Hall burned in 1934. Much of the building was gutted, although the dining hall was saved. The center section was renovated and used for social events. (OM)

1932

to

1945

The Kennon Observatory was constructed in 1939 and later named for William “Wild Bill” Kennon, who planned the structure and who taught astronomy classes at the university for forty years. The main entrance to it “faces due south, and the building is precisely aligned east to west. A small tube in the south wall is oriented such that direct rays of the sun shine through it to the floor only twice a year, at noon on the vernal and autumnal equinoxes” (http://www.phy.olemiss.edu). (IS)

Six new and modern dormitories, funded partly by the Works Project Administration, were dedicated at a ceremony in front of Barnard and Somerville Halls on October 21 and 22, 1938. The Cardinal Club sponsored a dance at the gymnasium as part of the program. Somerville and Barnard Halls were to house women, while Hedleston, Mayes, Leavell, and Garland housed men. Although now used for other things, all six dorms are still in place on campus. (ASC)

158

Another 1939 project financed through the Public Works Administration was a building with eight two-bedroom apartments for faculty and staff. Called Eastbridge, it was located just west of the railroad, on the south side of University Avenue. It was demolished well before the construction of Coulter Hall. (SBC)

1932 to

In 1939, mostly with WPA funds, the university built twentytwo houses for faculty members. Most of the faculty houses had about fifteen hundred square feet and three bedrooms. A new street, Faculty Row, was constructed. (ASC)

1945

The railroad bridge marker (GW)

The gift from the class of 1940 was four lamps on the railroad bridge. (GW) A four-lane bridge over the railroad was constructed in 1940. (GW)

159

1932

to

1945

Frats & Sororities

The gift from the class of 1937 was a set of pillars with lamps at the north entrance to Sorority Row. (OM)

Congress granted permission for universities to use Works Progress Administration funds for fraternal housing. The Sigma Alpha Epsilon house, occupied in the fall of 1935, was the first built on Fraternity Row after the ban on fraternities and sororities was lifted. It burned in 1953. For a while SAE and Phi Epsilon Pi shared a house. (OM)

160

The university chapter of Phi Delta Theta was established in 1877. For a number of years the fraternity, as did many others, operated from the second story of a store on the Oxford square. Its first chapter house, the second built there, was constructed on Fraternity Row in 1935. The house burned in 1941. (OM)

1932 to

In 1904 the Chi chapter of Delta Delta Delta was established at the university.

Its chapter house was the first sorority house on the campus, completed in the summer of 1935. (OM)

1945 Delta Kappa Epsilon was the first national fraternity to establish a chapter at the university, in 1850, and the oldest currently on the campus. For a number of years its chapter house was the Magnetic Observatory (Dead House). Its first Fraternity Row house burned in 1957. (OM)

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War Comes Knocking Again

1932

to

1945

By 1939 war looked like a certainty.

There was a major military presence on the campus, with many male students participating in ROTC programs. (OM)

The campus looked much like a military camp during World War II as soldiers drilled, exercised, marched, ate, socialized, studied, and danced together. (ASC)

162

1932 to

1945 Everyone on campus worked hard to take care of the soldiers’ well-being, with socials and dances the norm. (ASC)

163

1945 to

1932

164

Student publications during World War II contained such ads as these. (The Rebel)

The 1940 Ole Miss carried these “Snapshots of Army Life.� (OM)

1932 to

1945 One hundred and fifty-nine brave and loyal university students lost their lives in the conflict. Among them: Gus Gerard (BA, 1941) was killed February 10, 1944, during the Italian Theatre. Gerard Hall was named in his memory. Billy Sam (BSCS, 1942) was killed during the invasion of Saipan in 1944. Sam Hall was named in his memory. Hermann Myrtille Baxter was killed in Germany while trying to rescue a comrade on October 16, 1944. He received the Bronze Star and Purple Heart posthumously. Baxter Hall was dedicated to his memory. (ASC) Many students had the hard choice of graduation or service. (ASC)

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

Ole Miss Cares: A Katrina Story

W

What is it about Ole Miss that calls to her own wherever they are? Explanations have been attempted by poets, artists, writers, and photographers, and their words and pictures tell part of the story. Yet there remains this elusive, spiritual quality about the university that is difficult to capture . . . except with the heart.

That quality may best be understood in what Ole Miss does for its family. And especially

what it did for its family after the devastation known as Katrina. It was perhaps the worst of times for Mississippi and the Gulf Coast. Katrina’s winds and water took a beautiful coastal area and literally ripped it apart, leaving death and desolation in her wake. Many in her path were Ole Miss friends and graduates.

Within hours of the storm’s passing, the university began the process of locating her family, offering help and making plans in Oxford to assist with the recovery. A theme was adopted that goes to the heart of the Ole Miss family: “Ole Miss Cares.” And when the “Ole Miss Cares” caravan arrived on the Coast, it brought more than the tangibles of water, food, and laborers. Those thirty-five faculty and staff came with love in their hearts, ready to help their own begin the process of healing and rebuilding.

They came with trucks of canned goods to feed hundreds who before Katrina had never been homeless or hungry.

They came to help the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center restore its green space so that children’s programming could begin again—even if it had to be in a tent—and so that desperate families could have a brief respite from the disaster and its cleanup efforts.

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 They came bringing free legal counsel to those trying to deal with the magnitude of their loss—homes, businesses, personal property—guiding them through the maze of insurance and recovery.

They came with an eighteen-wheeler with five thousand basketballs for the five Boys and Girls Clubs along the Coast. Each youngster received a basketball personally signed by the head coach, along with words of encouragement to keep them going.

More than sixty students also traveled to Gulfport to assist in the aftermath, bringing school supplies and helping schools move equipment to temporary facilities.

When love and hope are just as necessary as food and water, every act of kindness reaches a little farther than it would in “normal” times, and the true heart shows. After Katrina and beyond, the victims of the Gulf Coast’s most horrific storm were witnesses to what truly is the heart of Ole Miss—people who care. People who are eager to help when their family needs it most.

I know, because I am part of that family. And because I was a recipient of that loving spirit. ~Carole Lynn Meadows Gulfport, Mississippi

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1946–1968

Following the somewhat hasty exit of Chancellor Butts, over two hundred persons applied for the chancellorship at Ole Miss.

1946 to

Chapter Seven 1968 Dark Days and Silver Linings

F

Following the somewhat hasty exit of Chancellor Butts, over two hundred persons applied for the chancellorship at Ole Miss. From them, the board chose John Davis Williams, then president of Marshall College in West Virginia. Williams lost no time in making changes.

He decentralized the administrative structure, made assistant football coach John Howard Vaught head coach, and named C. M. Smith athletic director. With the help of these changes, football—with such star players as Barney Poole and Charlie Conerly—would become big news again.

Williams also began to address the unbelievably large increases in postwar enrollment.

The numbers were at that time staggering and understandably created a domino effect in terms of staffing and space. In May of 1946 Dr. David Bishop wrote that the English Department had to employ nine new instructors and that seven or eight hundred GIs were expected to enroll for the 1946 summer session. That same year a news release reported that “One- and two-bedroom apartment suites, to house 176 veterans and their families, have been completed and more than four hundred will be ready for occupancy before the end of the 1946–47 session. Also, a three-unit, thirty-two-room faculty apartment court will be ready for use by June.”1 During the war year of 1944–45 enrollment was at 1,237. By the fall of 1945 it had grown to slightly over 2,000. In the fall of 1948 it reached 3,891. The university had difficulty in recruiting new faculty members because of a lack of housing, and veterans became increasingly impatient with their situation. In an effort to combat the overpopulation, the university used Army surplus buildings for offices, classrooms, and faculty and student apartments, and numerous buildings were renovated and expanded. Also that year, a new

The UniversiTy of Mississippi

dormitory for women and four for men were built (followed by others in 1951, 1959, 1960, 1961, and 1963).

In due time, the tensions following the postwar influx lessened. But the university’s physical growth did not. During the following years support buildings such as a band hall, a new library (later named in Williams’s honor), the first section of the Alumni Association house, a physical plant office, and a Center for Continuing Studies were erected. Several academic departments were given new homes: Carrier Hall for engineering (named for Robert and Lenore Carrier, who provided scholarship funds and funds for the new building), a building for the School of Education, Meek Hall (named for Elma Meek) for home economics and music, and Conner Hall (named for governor Mike Conner) for business. Athletics received the Intercollegiate Athletics office building.

Chancellor Williams was inaugurated on October 25, 1946. (ASC)

JoHn dAvis williAms, a native of Kentucky, received a bachelor of arts degree in 1926 and a master of arts degree in 1930 from the University of Kentucky.

He completed his doctorate in education at Columbia University in 1940 and was granted LLDs from West Virginia Wesleyan and the University of Kentucky.

He was a teacher, principal, and superintendent of education in secondary schools and a professor at the University of Kentucky. He was president of Marshall University from 1942 until 1946.

Williams became chancellor at the University of Mississippi in 1946 and served until 1968. During his long career he was a member of the executive committee of the American Council on Education (1944–47 and 1956–59), vice president of the Southern Regional Education Board, and president of the National Association of State Universities, State Universities Association, the Southeastern Athletic Conference, the Southern University Conference, and the Southern Association of Land-Grant Colleges and State Universities. He was a member of Phi Kappa Phi and Omicron Delta Kappa.

After retiring from the university, Williams directed the South Central Regional Education Laboratory for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare for a year and served the Ford Foundation as a project specialist with the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education in Thailand from 1969 to 1971. He was a charter member of the Alumni Association Hall of Fame in 1975. The university library is named in his honor. Williams was married to the former Ruth Link.

They had one daughter, Harter Crutcher, and two grandchildren. (OM)

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The UniversiTy of Mississippi

Along with physical changes came shifts in academics. More emphasis was put on research, and doctoral programs were added. The two-year Medicine Program changed to a four-year program and moved to Jackson in 1955.

It was also a time of national recognition.

Chancellor Williams became the president of the National Association of State Universities and student Mary Ann Mobley was named Miss America in 1958—followed by Lynda Lee Mead in 1959. Less desired but even more newsworthy was the death of sometime Ole Miss student and Nobel Prize winner William Faulkner in July 1962.

Darker clouds were looming, however, and the university was soon to have more publicity than it ever desired. Free speech and race had long been an issue on campus. In 1953, African-American Charles Dubra applied for admission to the university . . . and was denied. He was followed by Medgar Evers in 1954. In 1955, Alvin Kershaw was uninvited to

This aerial view shows much of the university just before the postwar changes took place. (OM)

172

1946–1968: Dark Days and Silver Linings participate in the Religious Emphasis Week program when he announced he was giving the NAACP money he had won in a television contest. Clennon King then applied for admission to the university in 1958. As with the others, he was refused. But change was inevitable, and after a long court battle another African-American, James Meredith, was admitted in the fall of 1962 under court order.

That admission of one African-American brought about a major riot at the university on the evening of September 30, 1962. Many students had attended a Mississippi-Kentucky football game in Jackson the night before. At halftime Governor Ross Barnett spoke to the spectators, many waving Confederate flags: “I love Mississippi! I love her people—her customs. And I love and respect her heritage!” Fans cheered wildly.

When many returned to the campus the following afternoon they learned that federal marshals had surrounded the Lyceum, a symbol for the entire university, in preparation for Meredith’s arrival. Some taunted the marshals, but few could have guessed what would take place later that evening. At about eight p.m., President John Kennedy began speaking to the nation about the situation in Mississippi. Unfortunately, at the same time a few angry students and many “outsiders” were already beginning to retaliate against Meredith’s admittance.

The federal marshals were provoked to the point of firing tear gas into the gathering crowd, precipitating a major riot lasting throughout much of the night (soldiers were brought to the campus to assist the marshals).

At that point most students had finally left the area and gone to their dormitory rooms (many left and went home). But during the night hundreds of nonstudents—some having driven for hundreds of miles—came to the campus. Bricks, bottles, pipes, and Molotov cocktails were thrown; a bulldozer and a fire truck were used in an attempt to reach the marshals; guns were fired at the marshals, who had been ordered not to fire their weapons; army trucks were attacked; cars were overturned and burned; and two people (French journalist Paul Guihard and an Oxford jukebox repairman Ray Gunter) were killed and a large number injured. Thousands of soldiers had to be brought to the campus to maintain order. It was a dark day indeed.

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The UniversiTy of Mississippi

In the days immediately following the crisis, Chancellor Williams kept the university open and operating when many would rather it shut its doors, at least temporarily. And the decision was upheld to allow Meredith (and any other African-American interested) to attend school. These decisions had major effects on the university; enrollment dropped from 4,770 in the fall of 1962 to 4,280 in the spring and over thirty faculty members resigned at the end of that academic year. But many others toiled hard and long to make integration work. Charles Noyes, provost during 1963–64, wrote of that time in history:

“

A sober and objective reappraisal of the year can only conclude

that the University, because of the Meredith crisis, paid a high price academically in terms of students, faculty, financial support, and reputation in the academic community. That it did not suffer more grievous and even irreparable damage is a testament to the efforts of dedicated members of the University administration, faculty, staff, the courage and faith of the University’s friends in high places, and the loyal support of University

”

alumni throughout the trying year.

2

Time marched on and healed wounds. In 1963 the Biology Department moved into a new building. A coliseum named in honor of longtime baseball coach and director of intercollegiate athletics Tad Smith was finished in 1966. Hume Hall for mathematics was completed in 1968. And the Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award was inaugurated in 1966.

Chancellor Williams retired in 1968. His term of service was longer than that of any other chancellor before or since. And today, approximately sixteen-hundred African-Americans are enrolled on the Oxford campus.

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1946–1968: Dark Days and Silver Linings

A University

in Sculptures

Those lucky enough to visit the campus of the University of Mississippi soon notice something particularly special about the grounds—its sculptures.

Dotting the area, they represent not only goals and dreams but important moments in the history of the university. Several of them are here . . .

Several years ago students in a Southern Studies class discussed the need for a civil rights monument on the campus. Susan Glisson and John T. Edge led the effort and were soon joined by faculty and administrators. A large monument was constructed between the Lyceum and the Williams Library. A limestone portal is surrounded by a curved bench seat and brick pavers.

Rod Moorhead, a university alumnus, was asked to sculpt a life-size statue of James Meredith, a major element of the monument. The slightly-largerthan-life statue of Meredith walks toward the portal, which is capped with the words knowledge, perseverance, courage, opportunity. Moorhead said of his five-hundred-pound bronze likeness of Meredith, “Meredith’s walking works as a metaphor for his actions as a civil rights leader. I think it also emotionally

Sculpture by Ronald Bartlett

captures something of his quixotic character, and, along with the placement of the sculpture in relationship to the arch, implies an action not yet completed.”1 Moorhead is also the sculptor for the statue of a person in meditation; the person represents all faiths. The 1,100-pound bronze statue, seven and a half feet tall, is located in a courtyard behind the Paris-Yates Chapel. The sculptor explained: “It’s important that The Chapel Figure is large and emotionally powerful—and kneeling.”2 Moorhead was the sculptor for two musicians standing near the University Avenue

175

The Chapel Figure by Rod Moorhead

176

Concerto by Rod Moorhead

entrance to the Gertrude Castellow Ford Center for the Performing Arts. On this piece Moorhead commented: “Concerto, at the Ford Center, was always for me about its rhymes and rhythms. It was a translation of one art form, music, into another—sculpture. It was also about the relationship between the two players and the way it changes as you drive up University Avenue.”3 Another sculptor, Jane DeDecker, graced the campus with The Mentor. The sculpture rests in the center of a lovely rose garden outside the Gertrude Castellow Ford Center for the Performing Arts. The sculpture is particularly breathtaking at night, when lights around the center cast a glow onto the piece. The work was presented to the garden by Sally Barksdale.

It is the hallmark of the Ole Miss Women’s Council for Philanthropy.

Finally, there are the sculptures by Ronald Bartlett. Bartlett, a professor of German, was named Outstanding Teacher of the Year in 1983. In addition to being an outstanding teacher, he is also an outstanding sculptor who has graced the campus with a number of pieces.

Perhaps his most beloved is that of the football player, the centerpiece of the All-American Plaza between the football stadium and the new indoor practice facility. The space—and the sculpture—pays tribute to the accomplishments of university football players over the years and was sponsored by the classes of 2002 and 2003.

The Mentor by Jane DeDecker

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Sculpture of James Meredith by Rod Moorhead

People of Influence

1946

to

1968

Robert M. Carrier was born in Pennsylvania in 1876 and attended Cornell University. He came to Sardis in 1900 to enter the hardwood lumber business, and his Carrier Lumber and Manufacturing Company was quite successful. The Carriers lived in Memphis from 1923 until 1938, and Mr. Carrier was a longtime director of the Union Planters National Bank in Memphis. The Carriers funded Carrier Scholarships and Carrier Hall and left their Oxford home to the university as a residence for the chancellor.

Robert J. Farley held a BA and an LLB from the university and a JSD from Yale University. He was editor of the 1919 Ole Miss and ASB president in 1923. He taught at the university from 1926 until 1930 and from 1932 until 1936. He returned in 1946 and served as dean of the School of Law from 1946 until retirement in 1963.

Farley Hall is named in memory of Dean Farley and his father (also a law dean) and grandfather. He was a charter member (1975) of the Alumni Hall of Fame.

(OM)

Some items from the Robinson collection (ASC)

David Moore Robinson became a professor of classics and archaeology in 1948. He gave the university an extremely valuable collection of classical antiquities now housed in the university museum. (ASC)

178

Oxford attorney Will A. Hickman (JD, 1949) assisted the university in obtaining federal funds for several projects. He was for twelve years a member of the board of trustees. He was named to the Alumni Hall of Fame in 1996. (OM)

Sidna Brower (BA, 1963) editor of The Mississippian and a member of the 1963 Student Hall of Fame, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for her 1962–63 editorials supporting respect for the law and peaceful integration. (OM)

1946

Egbert Francis Yerby (BSC, 1929; MA, 1950) wrote the university’s fight song and was regarded as the father of continuing education at the university. He was an instructor of music, assistant registrar, director of extension (1951–63), and executive assistant to the chancellor (1963–76).

The E. F. Yerby Conference Center is named in his honor. (OM)

to

1968

Frank A. Anderson (BS, University of Southern California; MS, University of Maine; PhD, Louisiana State University) joined the university faculty in 1940. He was a longtime department chair and was associate dean of the School of Engineering from 1963 until 1979. He was one of the professors who dreamed about and planned a cultural center, was the Outstanding Teacher of the Year in 1967, and was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame in 1989. Anderson Hall is named in his honor. (OM)

179

Arthur Beverly Lewis (BA, 1923, MA, 1925, UM; PhD, 1930, Johns Hopkins) joined the Department of Physics and Astronomy in 1936 and was chair of the department from 1952 until 1957. He was dean of the College of Liberal Arts from 1957 until 1969 and professor of mathematics from 1969 until 1971. He was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame in 1978. Lewis Hall was named in his honor in 1984. (OM)

The World of Sports John Howard Vaught (APBE, 1933, Texas Christian University) was an All-American football player at TCU, a line coach at the University of North Carolina (1936–41), and a Navy officer during World War II. At the University of Mississippi, he was a line coach (1946), head coach (1947–70, 1973), and director of athletics (1973–78). His record of 190-61-12 is one of the best in the nation. His teams won six SEC championships and were invited to eighteen post-season bowl games. Vaught was selected SEC Coach of the Year six times and named to the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, and the Ole Miss Sports Hall of Fame. In 1990 he was named to the Alumni Hall of Fame. In 1983 his name was added to Hemingway’s on the football stadium. (ASC)

1946

to

1968

George Barney Poole (bottom left) and Charles A. Conerly, Jr., (bottom right) helped carry their football team in the 1940s.

Poole was an All-American and a member of the Mississippi and University Sports Halls of Fame, and the National Football College Hall of Fame. Conerly, who was elected Colonel Reb, was named to the Student Hall of Fame and is also a member of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and the National Football Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame in 1992. (OM)

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1946

181

1968

The university’s first televised football game was at Memphis in 1948. (ASC)

to

The 1952 game with Maryland was to be a big one. (ASC)

Some football programs during some exciting years (ASC)

194 6

to

1968

Donnie Kessinger (BBA, 1965) was named an All-American in both baseball and basketball in 1964. He was head baseball coach at the university from 1961 until 1996. (OM)

Jerry D. “Jake” Gibbs (BSHPE, 1961), Colonel Reb in 1961, was an AllAmerican quarterback in 1960 and an All-American baseball player in 1960 and 1961. A member of the University and Mississippi Sports Halls of Fame, he was named to the National Football Hall of Fame in 1995. Gibbs was head baseball coach at the University from 1972 until 1990. (OM)

Ole Miss scores a 21–14 victory over Maryland on November 15, 1952. (OM)

The national-champion 1962 football team won ten games (including a win over Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl) and lost none—the university’s only perfect season. (OM)

182

183

1968

The 1953–54 basketball team included some all-time greats. (OM)

to

Denver Brackeen (BSHPE, 1955; MED, 1956) was named an All-American basketball center in 1955. (Wo-He-Lo)

1946

The 1956 baseball team was the first to make it to the College World Series. (OM)

1946

to

1968

Women’s softball, long before it became an official sport at the university (ASC)

The 1965 golf team (ASC)

1946

A coliseum was constructed in 1965 at a cost of almost two million dollars. On March 25, 1972, it was named for Tad Smith, university athlete, coach, and administrator. It is affectionately called the “Tad Pad.” (OM)

to

1968

On February 18, 1966, the first basketball game was played in the new building. Though used mostly for basketball, the coliseum has been used also for assemblies, commencement, concerts, and lectures. It seats approximately 8,700. In 1998 offices for coaches were added at the south end of the building. It was renovated in 2001 and given new seating, scoreboards, sound systems, and floor decorations. Locker rooms were renovated in 2004.

A media room is named in honor of Coach “Country” Graham. (GW)

185

The world’s largest Rebel flag (UM ASC)

Chief Tatum directs traffic as students move in. (OM)

1946

to

1968

Campus Life

Freshmen have their heads shaved. (OM)

Postwar registration in the gymnasium (OM)

186

There really was a time of no phones in dorm rooms, no cordless phones, no cell phones. (ASC)

Lots of folks had crewcuts. (OM)

1946

“The news is not so good.”

(ASC)

to

1968

“That’s right, my dear—none of those lovely, soft mohair sweaters. And no patent-leather shoes. (ASC)

187

1968 to

1946

Cheerleaders in 1960, when the Rebel flag was still used on the field (ASC) Thad Cochran (BA, 1959; JD, 1965; honorary degrees from Kentucky Wesleyan College, Mississippi College, Blue Mountain College, and the University of Richmond) was vice president of the Associated Student Body, a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, president of his fraternity, and company commander in the Navy ROTC. He was an officer in the United States Navy from 1959 until 1961. On a Rotary fellowship he studied at the University of Dublin in 1963–64.

He was a member of Congress from 1973 until 1978 and has been a United States Senator since 1978. The Thad Cochran Research Center is named in his honor. (OM) The university band at the World’s Fair in Brussels (ASC)

188

V. P. Ferguson was a legendary Bohemian on the campus in the early 1950s. (OM)

The Rebelettes (OM)

1946 to

1968 Student elections are a longtime tradition. (OM)

With such sponsors, it’s hard to turn down an offer to be in an ROTC program. (ASC)

189

1946

to

1968

The ASB cabinet and the student Judicial Council have played prominent roles in student life. (OM)

Mortar Board officers in 1957 OM)

190

Rush activities are always fun. (OM)

Harry Campbell was coauthor of the first book published about William Faulkner. He is shown here lecturing to an American literature class in the Graduate Building in the spring of 1959. (ASC)

1946 to

The “electronic brain” was a huge computer with less power than today’s laptop.

(OM)

1968

A pledge class leaves Fulton Chapel. (OM)

191

The library is always a busy place.

(OM)

For a number of years Rebelee was held at Sardis Lake each spring.

(OM)

1946

to

1968

Bonfires before home football games were a longtime tradition. (OM)

A pajama parade in Oxford (UM Museum: Cofield)

192

Hairy legs at Rebelee (ASC)

1946 to

1968

There was a time when some of the biggest traffic jams in Oxford occurred when the movies at the Rebel Drive-In Theater ended; sometimes as many as thirty cars lined up on what is now in the area of Home Depot on West Jackson! (OM)

“Serve you, please?” (OM)

1968

The Mansion was a favorite Oxford restaurant; Greek organizations often held functions there. (OM)

1946

to

Mary Ann Mobley was the university’s first Carrier Scholar and first Miss America (in 1958). She was also National Football Queen in 1958. She was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame in 1981. She and her husband, Gary Collins, have been strong supporters of the university. (OM) The following year (1959), Mary Ann Mobley crowned Lynda Lee Mead Miss America. Ms. Mead (later Mrs. John Shea) went on to become a businesswoman and civic leader. An accomplished interior designer, she has assisted the university in decorating parts of the Lyceum and other buildings. She was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame in 1985. (OM)

Occasionally we get enough snow for snowballs. (OM)

194

Grill scenes from the early and late 1950s (OM) Eating out has always been a favorite pastime in Oxford. Restaurants such as Grundy’s (later called Smitty’s and now 208) and the Ole Miss Drive Inn were frequent hangouts. (OM)

1946 to

1968

Isn’t it relaxing! (ASC) Hungarian refugees John Adler (third from left) and Charles Tilly (fourth from left) enrolled for the spring semester in 1957. (OM)

In 1966 the university began recognizing a university-wide Outstanding Teacher of the Year. German professor William Eickhorst was the first to hold that honor. (OM)

195

1946

to

1968

Chancellor Williams visited President Lyndon Johnson. (ASC)

196

Members of the administration and the Athletics Department were invited to dress-up occasions when the football team went to bowl games. Pictured are members of the official party at the 1956 Cotton Bowl. (Regina Holley)

The J. D. Williamses hosted numerous receptions in the Barnard Observatory building. (ASC)

1946

The centennial-year commencement took place in 1949.

(ASC)

to

1968

The 1955 Ole Miss was dedicated to Blind Jim. (OM)

Thousands of students have met their future spouses at Ole Miss, as did Julie Hart and Gerald Walton, pictured here at a Kappa Delta formal at the old gym.

197

Graduation. (ASC)

The 1953 Concert Singers and Rebelaires (OM)

1946

to

1968

A Cultural Affair

The Artists’ Series brought such groups as the Finnish Ballet to campus. (OM)

198

Such groups as the Four Freshmen and the Stan Kenton Band performed at the university. (OM)

The Workshop Theatre sponsored some outstanding productions. (ASC)

The first Christopher Longest lecture was held in 1961. The annual lectures honor the long career Dr. Longest had as a professor in the Departments of Classics and Modern Languages. (ASC)

1946

Robert Kennedy speaks at the coliseum. (OM)

Many students went to the Lyric Theatre in Oxford to see the premiere of Faulkner’s Intruder in the Dust. (OM)

199

1968

Legendary entertainers such as Bob Hope and Johnny Cash often performed on campus.

(OM)

to

A program for the premiere (Museum: Cofield)

Academic Offerings

“Maybe a little more red?” (ASC)

The medical school was moved to Jackson, and its new building was dedicated on October 24, 1955. It included the four-year medical program, schools of nursing and medical technology, a 350-bed teaching hospital, an outpatient department, a library, and research facilities. (OM)

1946

to

1968

“I can’t wait till I start cutting on real people.” (ASC)

A five-story, eighty thousand-square-foot building for biology (with temporary space for pharmacy and mathematics) was dedicated October 16, 1964. It was originally named Hume Hall, in memory of Alfred Hume. When a new building for mathematics was completed in 1968, the Hume name was transferred. The biology building was renamed in honor of William M. Shoemaker. For a number of years the dean of the Graduate School had offices in the building. This building was considered to be the first in a series of buildings for a science center complex. (IS)

200

“Now, one more time: what exactly does a Tinius-Olsen Tester test?” (ASC)

1946

Are we really going to be responsible for knowing that stuff about pollen tubes?” (ASC)

to

1968 The first Carrier Scholars (OM)

Registration at the new coliseum

Omicron Delta Kappa elects student leaders each year. (OM)

The School of Engineering had long needed a facility all its own. Carrier Hall, financed by Robert M. and Lenore Carrier, was constructed in 1954. (ASC)

An underground Accelerator Building was completed in 1963. It was originally designed to house a 3-MEV particle accelerator and served as a research facility for members of the Physics Department. (SBC)

201

“Oh, it is extremely interesting. The subtitle is ‘Being an Attempt To Introduce the Experimental Method of Reasoning into Moral Subjects.’” (ASC)

Postwar Growth

1946

to

1968

In 1947 a Veterans Housing Project was completed—setting up fifty-three military surplus wooden buildings, providing approximately four hundred apartments. Each building had eight apartments, four upstairs and four downstairs.

Rent was $12.50 per month, and electricity was $1 per month. Extra was the cost of kerosene, used for heating and cooking. Rick and Judy Cardwell play in front of their apartment in 1954. (Mr. and Mrs.Ed Cardwell, with thanks to Will Lewis, Jr.; photograph by Boone Shelton)

As temporary buildings in “Vets’ Village” were demolished, new apartments were constructed, beginning in 1958 and continuing until 1963. There were 120 efficiency apartments in buildings like the first pictured, 120 one-bedroom apartments, and eighty two-bedrooms like those in the second photograph. Most of the buildings have been demolished; a new law school building, named in honor of Chancellor Khayat, is to be built in the area.

(GW) Three apartments for faculty members were constructed in 1947—Northgate Apartments A, with eight two-bedroom apartments; Northgate B, with eight one-bedroom and eight two-bedroom apartments; and Northgate C, with six onebedroom and five two-bedroom apartments.

The conveniently located and inexpensive apartments were reserved for newly employed faculty and staff members, who often established lasting friendships while living there. In 2004 the buildings were refurbished and became residence halls for students. (GW)

A new cafeteria, later named the Paul B. Johnson Commons West, was first used in June 1963. Both the original building and the 1963 addition have been refurbished several times. (GW) In his 1949–50 annual report, Chancellor Williams spoke of building an Alumni House for visiting alumni. Beginning as early as 1955, a number of rooms have been added to the original Alumni House, and renovations have taken place regularly. The Triplett Alumni Center adjoins the hotel structure, now known as the Inn at Ole Miss. The center is named in honor of Faser Triplett. (ASC) The Alumni House pool (IS) The Alumni House snack bar, pictured here in 1952, has long been a favorite gathering place.

(OM)

202

The formal dedication of Johnson Commons took place on October 27, 1965. Senator Eastland and Paul Johnson, Jr. (the building was named for his father), were speakers. (ASC)

By the 1940s, more library space was required. As a means of recognizing the university for its one hundred years of service, the legislature appropriated $1,250,000 for the construction of a new building. In a fitting move, the groundbreaking ceremony took place on November 6, 1948, exactly one hundred years after classes began. (ASC)

The dedication of the new library was held on October 19, 1951. Chancellor J. D. Williams, for whom the library would be named later, gave the major address. (ASC)

1946 to

1968

Baxter Hall was one of the dormitories constructed after World War II to meet serious housing needs. The plan was comparable to those for Navy barracks and less expensive than similar residence halls. The dedication of the building, designed to accommodate ninety male students, took place in November of 1949 with William Winter speaking on behalf of Hermann Baxter, an ASB president killed during World War II. James Meredith roomed in Baxter Hall in 1962–63. (ASC)

The new library could accommodate four hundred thousand volumes and 1,250 students. It had three main levels and six levels for shelving books. (ASC)

Kincannon Hall, a seven-story residence hall, with each floor split into three wings, was built to house 568 male students. In 1963 it was the largest dormitory on the campus. Named in honor of chancellor Andrew Kincannon, it is still used as a residence hall. (ASC)

Deaton Hall, a four-story dormitory, was opened in February 1952, with fifty-one rooms for female students. It had modern features such as an elevator, porches and lounges, a buzzer system, and built-in furniture. The building was closed from 1971 until 1974. As part of a Phoenix Project, it was renovated in 2001 and once again is used as a residence hall. It is named in memory of dean of women Eula Deaton. (IS)

203

A Dark Day... and a New Dawn

1946

to

1968

After a long legal battle, Kosciusko-native James Meredith was admitted to the university in late September 1962 and was escorted to the campus. He was an Air Force veteran and a transfer student from Jackson State University. While integration came slowly at first, this courageous and dedicated African-American paved the way. (ASC: MHP)

United States marshals arrived and surrounded the Lyceum on September 30, 1962. (Ed Meek, William Norman)

204

Automobiles were burned and overturned. (GW)

The mob in action (ASC: MHP)

Meredith had around-the-clock protection and was escorted to and from classes. (ASC) Oxford was involved also (when City Grocery really was a grocery). (ASC)

1946

The days after (Ed Meek)

to

Troops remained on the campus and camped nearby. (Ed Meek)

1968 James Meredith graduated in August 1963. (ASC)

205

1946

to

1968

Senior student Curtis Wilkie (now Cook chairholder in journalism), who was on the scene, drew a map of the events. (Curtis Wilkie)

1946 to

1968



George Street:

A Real-Life Hero in 1962

O

Ole Miss administrator George Street personified the university to many people during his thirty-nine-year career. But his job description never included his heroic acts the night of September 30, 1962, when he risked his life to help people injured in the riot over the university’s integration.

Street was home watching Bonanza on television when Polly Hines called, asking Street

to go check on her husband, assistant registrar Tom Hines, at the Lyceum. Street drove there in his green 1960 Volkswagon. A crowd had begun to gather, but he talked them into letting him through. Then armed soldiers wearing gas masks confronted him at the rear of the Lyceum. Raising his hands, he announced his identity.

“To my profound surprise and unspeakable relief, the response came through the muffled gas mask of one guard: ‘Oh, come on George, we know you,’” Street recalled. The soldier was Oxford resident Billy Ross Brown, whose National Guard unit had been federalized.

“With that one stroke of luck, I established an entrance to and exit from the Lyceum that would serve me well the rest of that long night.”

In the Lyceum, Hines was fine, but the floor was filled with wounded federal officials.

Street decided to get them medical help. Federal marshals gave him a gas mask and a billy club to protect himself. Using his discovered exit, he drove to the hospital where Dr. L. G. Hopkins agreed to help him. “We proceeded to make the [Lyceum] ladies lounge a combat first-aid station,” Street said.

Street continued to drive through the night to evacuate university personnel and to

208

 gather medical supplies from the hospital, maneuvering through an angry crowd armed with bricks, stones, and bottles. They surrounded his car and tried to turn it over. “Epithets of all nature and . . . death threats were hurled at me,” he recounted.

Around dawn, federal troops restored order. National Guard Captain Chooky Falkner’s arm was broken from flying bricks. Street took him to the hospital in his final trip. “I conducted Captain Falkner through what I had come to call my ‘safe passage,’” Street said.

To his surprise, Falkner began running, shouting at Street, “They are still shooting here!”

Street recalled, “It was then that I begin to realize how lucky I had been through that whole miserable night.”

After returning home for a shower to wash off the “nauseating, burning, clinging odor of tear gas,” Street returned to witness James Meredith register at the university. The night was over, but Street’s career at Ole Miss would continue until he retired in 1985. His many other accomplishments included beginning the first work-study and job placement programs on campus. He was the first person to hold the offices of admissions counselor, financial aid officer, and director of social affairs, development, and university relations. He was also supervisor of housing, veteran’s advisor, and assistant dean of men. Today the George Street House, across from the Lyceum, is named in his honor. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1995. ~Robin Street

209

1968–1984

Following the exit of Chancellor Williams in 1968, the school once again entered the search for new leadership.

Chapter Eight Turning the Corner

1968 to

1984

F

Following the exit of chancellor Williams in 1968, the school once again entered the search for new leadership. Porter L. Fortune, Jr., then serving as executive secretary of the national Exchange Club and a former administrator at the University of Southern Mississippi, was named chancellor later that year. During his sixteen-year tenure, he focused on establishing a variety of new schools and centers for specialized study, including the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, whose mission has been “to investigate, document, interpret, and teach about the American South.”

Fortune will perhaps be best remembered for his support of a cultural center concept.

The construction of the Skipwith Museum was an important step in the center’s growth, as were the purchases of William Faulkner’s home (Rowan Oak) and the Stark Young house.

The center was and remains one of the key legacies of not only Fortune, but the university itself.

Fortune followed the museum with the Sarah Isom Center for Women’s Studies (Jan Hawks was the first director). He began Schools for Health Professions and Dentistry at the medical center and a School of Accountancy on the Oxford campus and created a Black Student Union. He also initiated a distinguished professors program—John Pilkington and Chalmers Butler were the first to be selected—and hired such creative writers as Willie Morris to teach classes, give lectures, and meet with students. (Other writers in residence, housed in the Department of English, have included Ellen Douglas and Barry Hannah.)

Outstanding speakers such as Edward and Robert Kennedy, Gerald Ford, and Hubert Humphrey were brought to the campus in an effort to foster interest in the university.

The UniversiTy of Mississippi

Fortune, along with the English Department and the Division of Continuing Education, was also responsible for creating an annual conference dedicated to the life and works of the university’s most distinguished student, William Faulkner. The first conference, held in 1974, was so successful it was repeated the following week and has continued in popularity since then. The world’s best Faulkner scholars present papers at the conference each year, and there are tours and general discussions as well. The participants come from all over the world—from serious scholars to those simply wishing to expand their appreciation and understanding of the writer.

Porter l. Fortune, Jr., was born in North Carolina in 1920. He received his BA, with highest honors, from the University of North Carolina in 1941. After Pearl Harbor he volunteered for the Navy’s midshipman program. He trained at Columbia University and then saw action in the Southwest Pacific. He achieved the rank of lieutenant commander, at age twenty-five, and commanded an escort ship. He received the Bronze Star for heroism in action. After the war he was a member of the Advisory Council on Naval Affairs.

Fortune earned his master of arts degree at Emory University in 1946 and then returned to the University of North Carolina, where he received his PhD in history in 1949. His first academic appointment was at the University of Southern Mississippi. He was professor of history, dean of the basic college, and dean of the graduate school. He then left the academy and was executive secretary of the National Exchange Club in Toledo, Ohio, from 1961 until 1968. (He was later named the president of the National Exchange club.)

He came to the University of Mississippi as chancellor in January 1968 and served until he retired in 1984. He received numerous honors, including the Navy Distinguished Public Service award, a Distinguished Civilian Service medal, the John R. Emens National Award for support of a Free Student Press, the Governor’s Outstanding Mississippian Award, and the Freedom Foundation’s George Washington Honor Medal. He was president of the Southern Association of Land-Grant Colleges and State Universities, the Southern University Conference, the Mississippi Historical Society, the Mississippi Association of Colleges, the Mississippi Humanities Council, and the Southeastern Conference. He was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, Phi Delta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, and many other honorary and leadership organizations. He was married to Mary Elizabeth Cummings of North Carolina, and they had four children, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Their son Philip is an attorney in Atlanta; daughter Jean is a freelance editor in Chapel Hill; daughter Janet is a professor and administrator at Greensboro College in North Carolina; son Carey is a director of data processing in Clinton, North Carolina. (OM)

212

1968–1984: Turning the Corner With the lack of space after the war a fading memory, student enrollment continued to grow. During Chancellor Fortune’s tenure, enrollment increased 40 percent. The budget also increased substantially, and the Chancellor’s Trust was begun as a method of increasing private giving. Several buildings were renovated and a number of new ones were built, including the university’s largest dormitory for men, a pharmacy building (Faser Hall), a humanities building (Bishop Hall), a chemical engineering building (Anderson Hall), the Ole Miss Union, a law school building (Lamar Hall), a chemistry building (Coulter Hall), a mathematics building (Hume Hall), and a physical education and recreation center (the Turner Center).

As they did across the country, students enjoyed more freedoms during the 1970s.

Female students, for example, were no longer prohibited from wearing slacks and shorts and no longer had to “sign out” when they left their dorms or be in by certain times. Legalized alcohol in Oxford brought about bars as places to party; a new student union building was never as popular as the old grill, since now students could meet off campus. Sports continued to be important to many—as not just an athletic event but a precursor to the evening’s social activities. Many male students wore coats and ties to football games, and their dates wore the heels and dresses they’d wear to parties after the game.

The civil unrest of integration was also fading, but one holdover continued. Perhaps Chancellor Fortune’s most courageous decision was that of declaring in 1983 that the Confederate flag be in no way officially associated with the university or any of its organizations.

Before that time it had been waved at football games since at least 1948. But in 1982 John Hawkins, an African-American student, was elected a cheerleader and understandably said he would not carry a Confederate flag at a football game. That decision caused a good deal of concern. As the football season approached, there were rumors that the administration would prohibit the use of the flag as a spirit symbol. Although many students didn’t complain, knowing they could still wave their individual flags in the stadium (it was not until Khayat’s term that flags on sticks could not be brought into the stadium itself), some students began a “Save the Flag” movement, collecting signatures.

213

The UniversiTy of Mississippi

The dissention was enough to bring the Ku Klux Klan to town in support of the flag. But when the 1983 yearbook actually included pictures of that KKK rally, many were infuriated.

The faculty, by and large, were supportive of banning the flag, and the faculty senate urged Chancellor Fortune to make a statement. He did so on April 20, 1983, announcing that “the University of Mississippi was officially and formally disassociating itself from the Confederate flag and that no unit or organization officially associated with the university, including cheerleaders, would display the flag.�1 It was another victory for modernization.

Chancellor Fortune came to the university while it was still reeling from the effects of the Meredith riot. He worked tirelessly to overcome the negative effects, but by 1984 he had been in office for sixteen years. He had had some major health problems, and of course the flag controversy had taken its toll (he lost a number of friends and received death threats).

He chose to retire.

214

1968–1984: Turning the Corner

215

People of Influence

Philosophy Department chair Michael Harrington (left) and History Department chair Robert Haws recommended the establishment of the university’s Center for the Study of Southern Culture. Haws was the first (interim) director of the Lott Institute. (GW)

1968

to

1984

Sociology professor Joseph “Pete” Bruening was chief faculty marshal at commencements for many years and was one of five faculty members who put together a plan for a Cultural Center at the University. (OM)

216

Electrical Engineering Chair Chalmers Butler, employed at the university from 1965 until 1985, was one of two Distinguished Professors named in 1977. (OM)

John Pilkington, American literature professor from 1952 until 1985 and associate dean of the graduate school from 1970 until 1977, was named Distinguished Professor in 1977 when the first two distinguished professors were honored. A library endowment in his name honors the longtime president of Friends of the Library, who has devoted over fifty years of service to Friends. (OM)

1968 to

1984

1984 to

1968

Lucius L. Williams, Jr., (BS, Jackson State; EdM, Boston; MA, Adelphi; EdD, Columbia) was assistant vice chancellor for academic affairs from 1975 until 1990. He was the university’s first high-level AfricanAmerican administrator. He played an extremely important role in race relations at the university. The Lucius Williams Learning Center is named in his memory. (OM)

218

Dorothy Hagert Crosby attended the University of North Dakota and graduated from Mayville State Teacher’s College. She taught in New England and worked in New York before marrying L. O. Crosby, Jr., in 1935. She was a leader and a generous philanthropist, funding or sponsoring the Margaret Reed Crosby Memorial Library, the Crosby Arboretum, the Interpretive Center (Pinecote), Friendship Park and the Jack Read Memorial Park, numerous scholarships, Pine Eagle Interfaith Chapel, the Ernest Thompson Seton Memorial Library and Museum, St. Olave’s Chapel, and a major restoration of Rowan Oak. Her daughter Lynn attended the university and with her husband (alumnus Stewart Gammill) financed the Gammill Gallery in Barnard Observatory and many other projects of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture. (Ann Abadie)

English professor Evans Harrington authored a number of works, including Battle of Harrykin Creek. He was one of the founders of the annual Faulkner Conference and directed the conferences for several years. (OM)

1968 to

1984

William Alton Bryant received a BA in English from the university in 1929 and taught in the department in 1929–30.

From 1930 until 1936 he taught at high schools in Mississippi and Tennessee. He returned to Oxford in 1936 to chair the English Department at University High School. He received his MA in 1939, then his PhD from Vanderbilt University in 1941. He joined the University of Mississippi faculty that same year, chairing the English Department from 1947 until 1953. He has also served as acting registrar, director of the summer session, assistant to the chancellor in charge of development, acting dean of the university, provost, vice chancellor, and executive vice chancellor. He was named to the Alumni Hall of Fame in 1979. Bryant Hall is named in his honor. (OM)

219

The World of Sports Archie was brilliant in the Sugar Bowl on January 1, 1970. (OM)

1984

Van Chancellor (MED, 1974) was head coach of the women’s basketball team from 1978 until 1997; he was SEC Coach of the Year three times and National Coach of the Year in 1991–92. He is a member of the University and Mississippi Sports Halls of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

His teams had a 439–154 record and went to fourteen NCAA tournaments.

(OM)

1968

to

Enjoying soccer and rugby (OM)

Intramural sports have always been popular. (OM)

In September 1975 a residence hall for 250 male athletes was completed, with dining facilities, lounges, training rooms, and suite-style bedrooms. The building was sometimes referred to as Vaught Hall, but in 1986 it was officially named Kinard Hall, honoring Frank “Bruiser” Kinard. After NCAA regulations concerning separate housing of athletes changed, the building was no longer used as a residence hall. It is currently occupied by a number of departments or programs, including the university police department, the Willie Price Nursery School, the nursing program, a number of research programs related to the School of Law, and distance learning and outreach. (IS)

220

Joe Walker was track coach from 1979 until 1985. After serving as head coach at the University of Florida, he returned to the university and has been track coach since 1988. He was USOC coach of the year 2002. (OM)

In 1974 women’s volleyball, tennis, and basketball became part of intercollegiate athletics at the university. The first women’s varsity basketball team is pictured below. (OM)

The university’s first women’s varsity tennis team (OM)

1968 to

Peggy Gillom (BSW, 1980), an honorable mention All-American basketball player, was a starting forward from 1976 until 1980. In 1980–81 she played for the Dallas Diamonds. She returned to the university as an assistant coach (1981–97). In 1997 she became an assistant coach with the Houston Comets.

She was head coach at Texas A&M from 1998 until 2003. She returned to the university on March 18, 2003, as associate head coach. She is the women’s basketball lead rebounder (1,271) and scorer (2,486 points), a Wade Trophy Finalist, a two-time Kodak All-District player, and a member of the University and Mississippi Sports Halls of Fame. The Gillom Center is named in honor of her and her sister Jennifer. (OM) Billy Chadwick (MBA, 1981) was the women’s tennis coach from 1979 until 1983 (in 1982 the team went to the SEC finals and the AIAW Nationals). Since 1983 he has been the men’s tennis coach. At the time he was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2006, his teams had made four NCAA Final Four Appearances, had gone to the NCAA championship tournaments fourteen times, and had won the SEC championships four times. He has been named SEC Coach of the Year twice. (OM)

221

1984

The university’s first women’s varsity volleyball team (OM)

The 1983 men’s tennis team (OM)

The Grove

1968

to

1984

“The Grove is the hub of Ole Miss—we play there and we study there. It becomes part of our college experience.” —Debbie Adams (OM)

During the Fall Festival students enjoyed good food in the Grove, served by Dwayne Crockett, Willie Miller, and Willie Hilliard. (OM)

The candles are red and blue; the candelabra are silver. (OM) In 1982 a movement began to prohibit parking cars in the Grove. (OM)

222

1968 to

Old Charter and Kentucky Fried (OM)

1984

Watermelon in the Grove (OM)

223

19 84 to

1968

Studying in the Grove (OM)

224

1968 to

1984

225

Campus Life

The inauguration program (ASC)

Chancellor Fortune’s inauguration in the coliseum (OM)

1968

to

1984

Dixieweek shrimp-and-beer lines at Sardis could be pretty long. (OM)

Annual elections of the Homecoming Queen are always exciting. (OM) The Ritz theatre (OM) The Ole Miss Ambassadors assist in student recruitment. (OM)

226

For a number of years there was a movie theater at the Eastgate Shopping Center in Oxford. (OM)

Dino’s was once one of the most popular restaurants on the Oxford square. (OM)

1968 to

1984 Angelo fixed some mean burgers and steaks. (OM)

The Gin, a student favorite, was one of the first bars in Oxford, after serving alcoholic beverages in Oxford became legal in the 1970s.

(OM)

227

In 1978 television Channel 12 at the university began operating full time. Students produce shows that can be viewed locally. (OM)

1968

to

1984

The early 1970s brought protests and demonstrations against the Vietnam War. (OM)

The Department of History sponsored a Bicentennial-celebration symposium in 1975. The now annual symposium was later named the Porter L. Fortune, Jr., History Symposium in memory of Chancellor Fortune. (History Department)

The university has had strong Army, Navy, and Air Force ROTC programs. (OM)

228

Taking tests. (OM)

1968 to

For many years only faculty members, graduate students, and Honors students could go into the library stacks to look for books themselves. A sign reminded users when the change was made. (OM) Female students enjoyed more freedoms窶馬o The 1970s brought dress code, no sign-out, no curfews. (OM) interesting trousers, wide lapels, and long hair and mustaches.

Classics professor Lucy Turnball (OM) at work (OM)

1984

Classes change at Bishop Hall. (OM)

Behaviorism?

229

Senator Edward Kennedy speaks at commencement. (OM)

1968

to

1984

“So will knowing whether it is in the Insecta Class help get me into med school?” (ASC)

1968 to

Home economics students take classes providing valuable practical experience and were once required to live part of a semester in a Home Management House. (HE)

1984

231

The 1968 dancers (OM)

1968

to

1984

A Whirlwind of Activities

Members of the band (OM)

232

The First James Edwin Savage Lecture (ASC)

The Group. (OM) Jimmy Buffett performs. (OM)

233

1984

Stars like John Carradine participated in summer showcase theater and music programs. (ASC)

to

Leontyne Price sang in Fulton Chapel in 1982 as part of the centennial observance of the admission of women to the university. (OM)

1968

Willie Morris was Writer in Residence from 1980–91. (OM)

1968

to

1984

Good musicals draw good crowds. (ASC)

234

Vice chancellor W. Alton Bryant, English chair James Webb, and Eudora Welty near a Faulkner portrait and bust in the Mississippi Collection in the library (ASC)

1968 to

1984

Manifest Destiny The new Law Center was occupied during the summer of 1978. The building, with over one hundred thousand square feet, houses the Law Center, the School of Law, and related service and research programs. The law school’s view book reported that the building “contains, among many other features, five large classrooms with tiered seating, power and Internet connections at each seat, and the latest digital projection and broadcast capabilities. Two seminar rooms and two moot court rooms also are equipped with the latest in technological infrastructure.” (ASC)

1968

to

1984

The Thomas N. Turner Health, Physical Education, and Recreation Building was opened in the spring of 1983. Campus Recreation and the Department of Health, Exercise Science, and Recreation Management share space in the building.

The center includes an auditorium and classrooms, an aerobic/dance studio, locker rooms, a swimming pool, four basketball courts, a jogging track, and a ten-thousand square-foot fitness center. The building was named for Thomas N. Turner. (IS)

The Frank A. Anderson Hall, named in honor of the associate dean of the School of Engineering, contains an auditorium, offices, classrooms, and laboratories and houses the Departments of Electrical and Chemical Engineering.

It was dedicated on May 8, 1971. (ASC)

In 1969 construction of a $2 million building for the School of Pharmacy was completed. The four-story building contains animal rooms, lecture rooms, thirty faculty offices, a herbarium, a greenhouse, conference rooms, a library, a museum, space for a research bureau, and almost fifty laboratories. Dedicated on June 14, 1970, it was named in memory of Henry Faser, the first dean of the School of Pharmacy. (GW)

236

The Cultural Center was Chancellor Fortune’s major vision. He provided this succinct statement: “Our dream of a center of cultural enrichment is far more than a building or collection of buildings. It is a vision of a place and environment where the intellect and spirit can be celebrated, where ideas and dreams can blossom into reality, and where those who live the transcendent quality of life will find a source of cultural refinement” (Moak). Pictured here is a futuristic sketch of the cultural center presented to Chancellor Fortune by five faculty members shortly after he became chancellor.

Their plans included a carillon, a teaching museum, a planetarium, a performing arts center, Rowan Oak and Faulkner trails, an arboretum, and a climatron. (ASC)

Sometimes referred to as the Humanities Building (part of the funding came from HEFA Title I and Title II grants), Bishop Hall has provided space for English, modern languages, history, a language laboratory, a media center, and other programs. At the time of its completion in 1968 it was regarded as a futuristic building with multiple rear-screen projectors, video recorders, and closed-circuit television. The building contains a large, much-used auditorium.

It is now home for history, the Jones Language Laboratory, and the S. Gale Denley Student Media Center (daily newspaper, radio and television, yearbook). (OM)

1968

Hume Hall, dedicated in December 1968, has been used primarily by the Department of Mathematics but was also an early home for City Planning, Electrical Engineering, and Social Work. It was named in memory of Chancellor Alfred Hume. (OM)

to

1984 The interesting Skipwith house was demolished before the construction of the teaching museum.

(ASC)

In May 1967 work began on the tallest building and largest residence hall on the campus. Part of it was occupied during the summer of 1969. It was known as Twin Towers until 1984, when it was named Martin-Stockard in memory of two Oxford residents who provided land for the university in 1841. Since 1985 women have lived in the east tower (Martin) and men in the west (Stockard). (IS) Chancellor Khayat named the chancellor’s residence the Carrier House. Similar to a judge’s home in Kentucky, it became the property of the university in 1963, after the death of Mrs. Robert Carrier, whose husband had died earlier. Renovation work began in 1969, and in 1971 the house was occupied by Chancellor and Mrs. Porter Fortune, Jr., and their family.

It has been home for chancellors and their families since that time.

(IS)

237

The Ole Miss Union Building was partially opened in May of 1976. It contains offices, lounges, meeting and conference rooms, a food court, a coffee shop, a book store, bank teller machines, a central ticket office, game rooms, a large lobby, and a post office and houses such organizations as the Associated Student Body, the Black Student Union, the Interfraternity Council, the Dean of Students, and the Student Programming Board. It contains 95,000 square feet and cost $4 million. It was renovated in 2001. (OM)

1968

to

1984

History in the Making

Stark Young lived for a while in a home built about 1880 on University Avenue. After Young’s parents died, the Oxford Presbyterian Church used the house as a parsonage for half a century. The university purchased the home in 1974 as part of the Porter L. Fortune, Jr., Cultural Center. It is under the direction of the university museums and is operated as a historic house and museum. (IS)

The Barnard Observatory was added to the National Register in 1978. (ASC)

238

1968 to

1984

William Faulkner gave his home and grounds the name Rowan Oak because he liked the Scottish legend that Rowan wood kept away evil spirits and provided security.

The house was built for Colonel Robert Shegog in the early 1840s. Faulkner purchased the house from a Bailey family in 1930. After Faulkner died in 1962, the university leased the house and then purchased it from his daughter, Jill, after her mother, Estelle, died in 1972. In recent years major fundraising efforts have taken place for restoration and renovation of this treasure. (IS; OM)

The opening of the Kate A. Skipworth Teaching Museum in 1976 was considered the first phase of the university’s Cultural Center. (GW)

The Mary Buie Museum was financed by the Skipwith family and given to the city of Oxford in 1974. The university’s collections, including the Barnard and Millington Collection of Scientific Instruments and the David M. Robinson Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities, were added to the Buie collection. There are now over ten thousand items in the museum. The Seymour Lawrence Gallery and the Porter and Elizabeth Fortune Gallery are also part of the museum. (ASC; GW)

239

We Are Ole Miss Jeanette Jennings was the first tenure-track African-American on the faculty. She was an assistant professor of sociology and social work from 1970 until 1975. (Louisiana State Board of Social Work Examiners)

to

1984

On August 6, 1970, Coolidge Ball (BRL, 1975) accepted a scholarship and became the university’s first African-American athlete. He was an All-SEC basketball player during his three seasons, scoring 1,072 points. He has been named to the university’s Athletic Hall of Fame and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. (OM)

Rose Jackson Flenorl (BA, 1979) worked for the university briefly after graduating. She managed community relations at International Paper in Memphis before becoming manager of global community relations and philanthropy at Federal Express.

She was the first African-American female to be elected as president of the associated women’s student government association and to be named to the Student Hall of Fame (in 1979), has been the university’s Education Alumna of the Year, and was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame in 1998. (OM)

1968

Robert J. “Ben” Williams (BBA, 1976) was the first African-American football player at the university. He is a member of the University and Mississippi Sports Halls of Fame. He was elected Colonel Reb and named to the Student Hall of Fame in 1976.

He was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame in 1997. (OM) Harold Reynolds was the first AfricanAmerican to be named to the Student Hall of Fame (in 1974). (OM)

240

A university chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the university’s first African-American sorority, was begun in 1974. A previous university-owned faculty house became its chapter house. (GW)

Omega Psi Phi, the university’s first mainly AfricanAmerican fraternity, was founded in 1973. (OM)

For a number of years Black Studies (or African-American Studies) was available only as a minor; now, however, a major in African-American Studies is offered. (IS)

1968

John Hawkins, the university’s first African-American cheerleader, refused to carry the Confederate flag. (OM)

to

1984

241



A Rocky Relationship: Faulkner & Ole Miss

W

William Faulkner never had (except in the world of his extraordinary imagination) the World War I fighter pilot experience he hoped for. But his service as a cadet in the Canadian Royal Air Force in 1918 did allow him to enroll at the University of Mississippi in the fall of 1919 as a special student. Given that he had dropped out of high school after two tries at eleventh grade, this route to higher education was the only one open to him.

The results were momentous for Faulkner and not insignificant for Ole Miss. Although

he remained a registered student for only a little over two semesters, during an eightyear period he published in campus newspapers, magazines, and yearbooks much of the apprentice work of his career: poems, reviews, drawings, cartoons, and a single short story— “Landing in Luck.”

But Faulkner’s relationship with Ole Miss went far beyond his campus publications. From 1922 to 1924 he served as acting postmaster of the campus branch of the U.S. Post Office.

As his friend Phil Stone would say later, “He made the damndest postmaster the world has ever seen.” While frustrated customers complained of undelivered mail, periodicals put in garbage cans, and slow and grudging counter service, Faulkner used the time to read literary materials addressed to faculty and write the poems that would make up his first book, The Marble Faun. Compelled at last by U.S. postal inspectors to resign, Faulkner supposedly muttered in relief, “I reckon I’ll be at the beck and call of folks with money all my life, but thank God I won’t ever again have to be at the beck and call of every son of a bitch who’s got two cents to buy a stamp.”

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 Four years later, living with his parents on the Ole Miss campus (where his father now held an administrative position), Faulkner wrote the breakthrough novel of his career, The Sound and the Fury.

Apparently, although no longer a student or employee, Faulkner continued to find Ole Miss a good place to do the work that mattered most to him. In 1929, now married to the former Estelle Oldham Franklin, he turned once again to his alma mater, working the night shift at the campus power plant, providing heat for Ole Miss and the town of Oxford. Since the need for heat subsided around midnight, Faulkner rigged up a writing surface on an overturned wheelbarrow; between October 25 and December 11 he wrote As I Lay Dying.

After 1929, Faulkner no longer needed to call upon Ole Miss for education or financial support. Nevertheless, Faulkner’s relationship with the university, like his relationship with the town of Oxford, was always deeper than it appeared. Although his attachment to it seemed somewhat strained, his need slight, his outward stance aloof—and although he banished the university from his mythical town of Jefferson—it was part of the landscape in which he lived, one of the necessary places in which he observed, read, and wrote.

His life and his work would have been far different without it. ~Donald Kartiganerr

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1984–1995

During a time of almost no state funds for buildings and their equipment, Turner listened to the dreams of imaginative and productive faculty members and then sought federal funds to meet the needs

Chapter Nine On a Roll

1984 to

1995

R

R. Gerald Turner, who became chancellor on April 2, 1984, was at thirty-eight the university’s second-youngest chancellor. Before accepting the job, the native Texan had been an administrator at Pepperdine University and the University of Oklahoma. Determined to succeed, the energetic leader immediately began promoting the university throughout the state and region (at speaking events with business executives, legislators, alumni, friends, civic clubs—wherever they would listen). At his inauguration, he formally began a campaign to raise twenty-five million dollars for academic programs—the first private fund-raising campaign in the history of the university. (He later oversaw a campaign to raise funds for athletic facilities; he expanded the football stadium and training center and added a new baseball stadium and tennis center.) His efforts actually raised more than one hundred million dollars, and the university saw an immediate increase in enrollment.

Equally important, Turner got the message to alumni and friends that publicly supported institutions could not rely solely on tuition and state support. During his tenure, the university’s endowment increased from eight million to sixty-four million dollars. This staggering eightfold increase exceeded any previous record and paved the way for requests for more private support in the future.

During a time of almost no state funds for buildings and their equipment, Turner listened to the dreams of imaginative and productive faculty members and then sought federal funds to meet the needs. Six national federally funded centers were established: the National Center for the Development of Natural Products, the Marine Mineral Research Institute, the Jamie L. Whitten National Center for Physical Acoustics, the Center for Water and Wetlands Resources, the National Food Service Management Institute (the institute’s

The UniversiTy of Mississippi

building was named the R. Gerald Turner Hall in 2007), and the Center for Computational Hydroscience and Engineering. The Mississippi Supercomputing Center was established.

A Barnard Distinguished Professorships program was launched, created with private funds.

Externally funded research increased more than 300 percent and seven new academic programs were approved. And over two hundred million dollars in new construction was initiated, approved, or completed.

One of the most remarkable results under Chancellor Turner, considering the university’s not-so-distant past, was the true embracing of minority students; minority enrollment

Texas native r. GerAld turner was born in 1945. He received an associate of arts degree from Lubbock Christian College in 1966, a bachelor of science from Abilene Christian University in 1968, a master of arts from the University of Texas in 1970, and a PhD from the University of Texas in 1975. All of his degrees are in psychology.

He taught in San Antonio and at Prairie View A & M and was associate vice president of university affairs at Pepperdine University, where he was employed from 1975 until 1979. He held several administrative positions at the University of Oklahoma from 1979 until 1984; he was vice president for executive affairs when he left to become chancellor at the University of Mississippi in 1984, at age thirty-eight. By that time he had coauthored one book and published over thirty articles.

At his inauguration in the fall of 1984 he formally began a campaign to raise twentyfive million dollars for the university and led the university in doubling that goal. After guiding the university through a period of high visibility and success, Turner left to become president of Southern Methodist University in 1995.

Turner has served in leadership capacities within various higher education organizations and currently co-chairs the Knight Commission of Intercollegiate Athletics. He has received the Henry Cohn Humanitarian Award of the Anti-Defamation League of Dallas and two honorary doctorates.

He serves on the boards of the United Way and Salvation Army of Dallas and three publicly traded companies.

Turner and his wife, the former Gail Oliver, have two married daughters, Angela and Jessica, and three grandchildren. Angela is an alumna of the University of Mississippi and is a professional opera singer; Jessica, a graduate of Southern Methodist University, is a professional actress.

The R. Gerald Turner Hall of the National Food Service Management Institute at the University of Mississippi campus is named in Dr. Turner’s honor.

(OM)

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1984–1995: On a Roll increased 85 percent during his eleven-year chancellorship. Not only that, but in 1987 a Mississippi African-American became the university’s twenty-third Rhodes Scholar, and the university was granted two Peterson Awards for Excellence in Graduate Admissions for Minority Students.

Turner’s years were filled with vision, youthful enthusiasm, and energy (one administrator called it “hyper”). The image of the university in the region was healthy; alumni and friends had become aware of the university’s need for support, and students felt good about their academic preparation and their social life. As university historian David Sansing put it, “Chancellor Turner met and exceeded his major goals and his eleven-year administration was highly successful by any standard of measure.”1 Turner resigned his position in 1995 in order to accept the presidency of Southern Methodist University.

A sesquicentennial celebration began in 1994 and lasted through 1998, corresponding to the period between when the university was chartered in 1844 and classes began in 1848. On February 24, 1994, the university held a Charter Day program. (Provost’s files)

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The Grove Probably all colleges and universities in existence for, say, a quarter of a century have established traditions.

The University of Mississippi has at least two that are often combined.

First, there is the tradition of simply being in the Grove. Nobody knows when “the Grove” first became an identifiable place on the campus. The entire university was in effect part of a grove. In describing the university’s buildings to the state legislature in 1850, the trustees wrote: “They stand upon a semi-circular area, occupy a space of several acres, in a grove of lofty forest trees . . .” The July 19, 1850, Natchez Free Trader reported: “There are 11 noble edifices occupying a grove half a mile from Oxford.” But at some point it developed its own identity and flourished.

The Grove is essentially an eleven-acre park. Only one structure, a pavilion for commencements and other events, resides there. There are enough open spaces for playing Frisbee, tossing a football, or setting up a thousand tents, but it also has hundreds of beautiful trees, mostly oaks. Students play, picnic, court, sleep, rest, study, and

walk

there. As one student explained, “The Grove is the hub of Ole Miss—we play there and we study there. It becomes part of our college experience.”1 Reunions and weddings are held there. Oxford and

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1984–1995: On a Roll the university celebrate the Fourth of July there. Commencement is held there. Concerts are held there.

The second tradition in the Grove is the long-established one of tailgating. The experience is a special one—far beyond what one might normally picture when thinking of tailgating. People come from all over on football weekends and set up sites around the campus, at any place within walking distance of the football stadium. The Grove itself becomes, except for some sidewalks and a small lane or two, a park filled with tents—some of them set up as early as two a. m. on game day.

Although the tailgating setups run the gamut from simple to extreme, extravagance is the model of the day. An example is a couple who was known to tailgate about a hundred yards from the Grove. They’d arrive in a chauffer-driven Lincoln limousine, and the uniformed driver would set up the bar and the table with silver candelabra and then get out the portable barbecue cooker.

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The UniversiTy of Mississippi

A Sports Illustrated writer described the Grove on a football weekend:

The most magical place on all of God’s green, football-playing Earth: the Grove. A school of red and white and blue tents swimming in a shaded 10-acre forest of oak trees, floating in an ocean of good will and even better manners . . . .

Yes, they drink bourbon and eat boiled peanuts and finger sandwiches from sterling-silver platters and serving dishes arranged by caterers and frantic moms on elaborate tabletops. They partake in front of flat-screen TVs with DirecTV, underneath chandeliers and amongst intricate candelabras and ornate flower arrangements. 2

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1984–1995: On a Roll

Another noted:

It is every kind of party you can describe, at once: cocktail party, dinner party, tailgate picnic party, fraternity and sorority rush, family reunion, political handgrab, gala and networking party-hearty . . . . It is pimento cheese sandwiches and silver trays, candelabra and fried chicken tenders, button-down shirts, rep ties and khaki shorts, pearls, expensive sunglasses and flip-flops in your purse for when your high heels become history.3 In the end, whether you’re taking part in the tradition of tailgating or just relaxing in the sun or shade, the Grove remains the quintessential soul of the university and community.

You may see the campus in the buildings, but you will hear its heartbeat in the Grove.

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People of Influence

1984

to

1995

Louis Brandt (BA, 1959) and his wife, Allison, provided the seed money making it possible to purchase, renovate, and maintain the Memory House, now named the Brandt Memory House.

Brandt has also supported other projects such as the Gillom Sports Center, tennis, decoration of the Chancellor’s residence, scholarships, and academic programs. Louis holds an engineering degree from the University of Texas and worked for General Electric and an oilfield service company before establishing his own business, which he sold to TRW in 1981. He is a member of the Lyceum Society and was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame in 1993. (OM)

Tonya Flesher (BS, Ball State; MA, Appalachian State; PhD, UM) was the first woman to hold an academic deanship at the university. After serving as interim dean from 1987 until 1989, she was dean of the School of Accountancy from 1989 until 1993. Dean Flesher was Outstanding Teacher of the Year in 2003. She became an Arthur Andersen Lecturer in 2003.

(OM)

Chucky Mullins was injured in a football game in 1989. University friends and fans contributed large sums to take care of his health needs. Unfortunately, Mullins died in 1991. The Chucky Mullins Courage Award was established and is given to a top defensive player. Chucky’s jersey (number 38) was retired in 2006. (OM)

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Charles Overby (1968) edited the state’s largest newspaper, the ClarionLedger, which won a Pulitzer Prize under his leadership. For sixteen years he worked for the Gannett Company, becoming president in 1989. In 1997 he became chairman, chief executive officer, and president of the Freedom Forum, the Diversity Institute, and the Newseum. He was named to the Alumni Hall of Fame in 1992 and is a recipient of the Silver Em. The Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics is named in his honor. (OM)

1984 to

1995

John L. Grisham (JD, 1981), author of several number one bestsellers, has supported the university in numerous ways. He has helped fund many programs, has spoken at commencement, and has assisted in a number of activities. In 1993 he and his wife established the Renee and John Grisham Southern Writer-In-Residence program, which brings an outstanding writer to the campus each year. (OM)

General Paul V. Hester (BBA, 1969, MBA), pilot and instructor, is commander of the Pacific Air Forces and air component commander for the U.S. Pacific Command, Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. He was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame in 2004. (OM; United States Air Force Public Affairs)

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The World of Sports Women’s track became an official university sport in 1986. (OM)

1984

to

1995

The volleyball team in 1987 (OM)

The lacrosse team in 1994 (OM)

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They start early. (OM)

1984 to

1995

1984

to

1995

Number 18 is retired. (OM)

UM wins the Independence Bowl. (OM) The university whips Air Force in the 1989 Liberty Bowl. (OM)

The Oxford-University Stadium and Swayze Field were dedicated in 1989. The stadium was a joint effort of Oxford and the university, with most of the funding coming from a 2 percent tourism tax in Oxford. The stadium itself seats approximately three thousand, but the entire park accommodates approximately eight thousand. Over ten thousand have attended at least one game. Left- and right-field lounge areas were constructed during the 2000 season. Other perks include superior lighting, an electronic scoreboard, and press boxes equipped with television. The field is named in honor of Tom Swayze. (OM)

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Jerry Montgomery was assistant tennis coach from 1986 until 1992 and head women’s tennis coach from 1992 until 2001.

His overall record as head coach was 232–120. (OM) Jennifer Gillom (BAR, 1987) was a firstteam All-SEC basketball player during her four years on the university team, was SEC Athlete of the Year in 1985–86, was named NCAA All-Region player in 1984–85 and NCAA Region MVP in 1985–86, and won Kodak All-District honors in 1984–85 and 1985–86. She played for Athens, Greece, in 1996–97, was on the gold-medal Olympic Team in 1988, and was on the U. S. World Championship team in 2002. While playing for the Phoenix Mercury she was named to the All WNBA first team in 1998 and was a WNBA All Star in 1999. She is a member of the University and the Mississippi Sports Halls of Fame and the National Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. The Gillom Sports Center honors her and her sister Peggie. (OM)

The Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center was dedicated on March 1, 1991. The stadium seats five hundred people, with courtside pavilions providing an additional three hundred seats. Since the facility was completed, the university has hosted a number of major tournaments, including SEC championships and NCAA women’s and men’s regionals. Chancellor Turner liked the Greek revival architecture of most of the campus buildings and insisted that new buildings follow that style, a practice which has continued. The facility is named in honor of primary benefactors John N. Palmer and Mitchell Salloum, Jr. A spectator viewing area, a pavilion, and office suites honor Will Galtney, Jack and Wylene Dunbar, Louis Brandt, Faser Triplett, Jr., and Ellis Moffitt for their contributions. (OM)

1984 to

1995

Skyboxes and a new press box were added to the football stadium in the late 1980s.

(Hoar-Jordan)

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Campus Life

1984

to

1995

An anatomy class at the Desoto Center (IS)

The ice storm of 1994 was devastating. (Jo Ann O’Quin)

Students campaign for candidates for Colonel Reb and Homecoming Queen in 1994. (OM)

Fun in the biology lab (ASC)

When students were asked about items that should be included in a pictorial history of the university, one said to be sure to include a photograph of that “creepy old tree” near Bryant Hall and the Union.

The North Catalpa tree, shown here during the 1994 ice storm, is one of the largest in the state and is probably over 160 years old. (Bobbie Garrett) This cheerleading team was number two in the nation. (OM)

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Vice President Dan Quayle speaks at commencement in 1990. (OM)

The senior class adopted a new flag in 1989. (OM)

The university sponsors some interesting ski trips. (OM)

1984 to

1995

The university has sponsored “Firing Line” programs. Appearing at the 1989 event were William F. Buckley, Jr., Newt Gringrich, Jack Kemp, John Kenneth Galbraith, Gary Hart, Jeane Kirkpatrick, George McGovern, and Patricia Schroeder. Another, in 1992, hosted Dick Armey, Jerry Brown, William F. Buckley, Jr., James Fallows, Richard A. Gephardt, Jack Kemp, Henry A. Kissinger, and Lester Carl Thurow. (Provost’s files) Kimsey O’Neal and Chucky Mullins were Miss Ole Miss and Colonel Rebel in 1990.

Kimsey was the first AfricanAmerican to be named Miss Ole Miss. (OM)

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International festivals provide information about other cultures. (OM)

A sorority celebration (OM)

Bid Day in 1987 (OM)

1984

to

1995

Damon Moore (BA, 1986) was the university’s first AfricanAmerican Rhodes Scholar, selected in 1987. (OM)

Chancellor Turner led the effort to design a new logo for the university and to highlight the school’s colors on all printed materials. (GW) Students compare notes, play Frisbee, learn, relax, and politick in the Grove. The gift from the class of 1985–86 was an effort to preserve the Grove. (UM Publications) In 1987 Standard Oil donated a supercomputer to the university and began what became the Mississippi Center for Supercomputing Research. (IS)

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In 1988 Chancellor Turner began a program whereby outstanding research scholars were named Barnard Distinguished Professors.

The recipients were given salary increases and extra funding to support their work. (GW) Shortly after arriving, Gerald Turner established a Chancellor’s Leadership Class consisting each year of freshmen nominated by their high school principals.

(OM)

The Turner Center brought a new venue for registration. (OM)

Susan Aiken was named Miss America in the fall of 1985. (OM)

1984

The Hoka provided good movies, good cheesecake and coffee, and good fellowship with people like Ron Shapiro, Willie Morris, and Barry Hannah. (OM)

to

1995

Brother Jim preached the gospel near the Union. (OM)

Derby Day (OM)

The campaign Chancellor Turner kicked off during his inauguration, which began with a goal of twenty-five million dollars, actually resulted in over forty-one million. When the formal celebration began, $35,754,135 had been collected or pledged. Here, Turner celebrates with Henry Paris and Richard Newman. (IS) B. B. King performs on the campus. (OM)

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Still Going . . . Still Growing

1984

to

1995

The Michael S. Starnes Athletic Training Center was dedicated on September 2, 1994, honoring Mike and Nancy Starnes for their loyalty and financial support.

The addition of ten thousand square feet to the old field house included weight rooms, meeting rooms, dressing rooms, offices, and equipment rooms. (OM, GW)

New entry gates at the west entrance to the campus (GW)

Congress appropriated approximately twelve million dollars for a building to be used for the study of physical acoustics; at the time it was the largest single-construction contract ever at the university. In July of 1988 bulldozers began preparing the site, in the area of the first golf course. (Hoar-Jordan)

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The V. B. Harrison Health Center was dedicated on June 21, 1991, and named for Dr. V. B. Harrison, director of the student infirmary from 1945 until 1971. The health center houses not only examining rooms and equipment but a pharmacy, wellness and counseling programs, and testing facilities. (ASC)

1984 to

1995

In 1992 the University Foundation, through a generous contribution by Louis K. Brandt, purchased the John Falkner Memory House. The house was built for James Stockard in 1838. McCarty Associates preserved much of the original structure—the fireplaces, staircase, windowpanes—when the building underwent a major renovation, completed in 1994. The building is used by Development and the Foundation and has offices, work spaces, a kitchen, and meeting rooms. (IS) The university purchased five hundred acres of land from Weyerhauser (more than two hundred more acres were added later) and began a Field Station to be used for education and research. The facility, dedicated in 1986, includes over two hundred spring-fed ponds and mesocosms. The Center for Water and Wetland Resources located at the field station includes experimental field sites, laboratories, and other facilities for teaching and research. (Field Station)

A new cafeteria in the Union (OM)

The groundbreaking ceremony for a new natural products building took place on October 20, 1990. (OM)

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

Chucky Mullins: The Comeback Kid

E

Even the casual fan knows the script: a football player either tackles someone or gets tackled and goes down hard. The crowd holds its collective breath as they wait for the player to shake off the cobwebs and get up. When he does, there’s a sigh of relief, a standing ovation, and the game proceeds as usual.

The scene was set. It was Homecoming 1989, Ole Miss versus Vanderbilt. Wearing

number 38, Roy Lee “Chucky” Mullins tackled a Vanderbilt player headfirst after a short pass. The referee blew the whistle, and players jumped up to get ready for the next play.

Everyone except Chucky.

There was no sigh of relief, no standing ovation as the stretcher carried him off the field.

Just the sinking feeling that one young man’s life had changed forever.

Chucky had beaten the odds before—overcoming a tough childhood and going to college.

His father left home when he was very young. His mother died when he was eleven. He was taken in by Carver Phillips, who knew Chucky through the recreation center in Russellville, Alabama, where Chucky grew up. Phillips arranged a meeting with Billy Brewer, Ole Miss’s head football coach. Though not very impressed with Chucky’s ability, Brewer was won over

by Mullins’s desire and offered him a football scholarship. And over time Chucky worked his way onto Ole Miss’s special teams unit as a defensive back, the position he was playing when he made that fateful hit.

Chucky had crushed four vertebrae in his cervical spine, instantly paralyzing him from the neck down. Football career? Over. College degree? Chucky Mullins was lucky just to be

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 alive. No, this sports story would end without the underdog staging a miraculous comeback against all odds.

Somebody should have told Chucky that.

Even in the midst of his 114-day hospital stay, Chucky Mullins set his sights on returning to Ole Miss to finish his degree. And on June 20. 1990, he rolled his motorized wheelchair back onto campus.

Chucky Mullins had made a comeback. And the crowd went wild.

The entire country rallied to his side. Donations poured in to cover his medical expenses and longterm care. Even former President George H. W. Bush paid him a visit.

Many had never met Chucky before his injury, but for those who met him afterward, one thing they’ll never forget is his smile—that “I’m going to beat this” smile that inspired thousands. Chucky made people believe in the impossible.

On May 1, 1991, Chucky was getting ready for class when he collapsed. Five days later, with a football in his arms, he died of complications from his injury. Thousands attended the funeral at Tad Smith Coliseum.

People love the “highlight reel heroes”—the star quarterback, the flashy wide receiver, the agile running back. But even more special than that is the underdog—the little guy who faces adversity head on and quite simply refuses to give up.

Long after his playing days, even after his death, Chucky Mullins continues to inspire with his courage and determination. The orphan black kid from Alabama gave the gift that keeps on giving.

He made us believe. ~Lee Eric Smith

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1995 to Present

Khayat set out to make the school not just a good American public university, but a great one.

Chapter Ten A New Dawning

W

1995 to

Present

When the board offered the chancellorship of the University of Mississippi to Robert C. Khayat effective July 1, 1995, the then-president of the board of trustees indicated they had never made a more popular decision. Khayat, well known throughout the state, and indeed the nation, was highly regarded by his colleagues, former students, and numerous friends, both within the academic and business worlds and social world. As one writer put it, “His credentials were impeccable; his ideas visionary; his commitment and drive unmatched.�1 Khayat set out to make the school not just a good American public university, but a great

one and worked tirelessly and successfully toward that goal. After he took office, forest lands owned by the university were sold to the federal government, providing a large endowment to be used for improving buildings and grounds; the endowment increased from $114.3 million in 1995 to $495 million in 2007. A Commitment to Excellence Campaign, ending in 2001, raised $525.9 million, with numerous foundations such as the Reynolds Foundation, the Bancroft Foundation, and the Gertrude Ford Foundation making significant contributions.

Research funding totaled over one hundred million dollars for the first time in 2001. And alumni like Richard Scruggs and David Nutt gave funds for the library and faculty salaries while several other individuals and foundations provided additional student scholarships.

Khayat also turned his thoughts to other endeavors, openly stating that one of his major goals was to secure a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa on campus. As he explained, even if the effort did not succeed, the university would still be improved by the increase in faculty salaries and student scholarships, library improvements, and recognition of students’ academic achievements. But not succeeding was out of the question, and in 2000 he reached his goal when the university did indeed receive its Phi Beta Kappa chapter.

The UniversiTy of Mississippi

With the monumental increase in private, university-generated, and research funding made available, many changes were made across the campus, including new programs and renovated buildings in which to house them. Examples include the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College (housed in a renovated sorority house), the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation (in Vardaman Hall), the Croft Institute for International Studies (the Y Building), the Patterson School of Accountancy (in Conner Hall), the Galtman Computing Center (in Weir Hall), and the Trent Lott Leadership Institute (in LaBauve

A native of Moss Point, roBert c. kHAyAt enrolled at the university in the fall of 1956. An outstanding baseball and football player, in 1958 and 1959 he led the nation in scoring by a kicker. He was named an Academic All-American in 1959 and an All-SEC baseball player in 1959 and 1960. He was a member of the College All-Star football team in 1960. He played for the Washington Redskins from 1960 until 1964 and was named to the NFL Pro Bowl in 1961. He was named in 1993 to the 100th Anniversary Team of the Century at the university and is a member of both the university and the Mississippi Sports Halls of Fame.

In 1960 Khayat was elected Colonel Rebel and named to the Student Hall of Fame. A member of Omicron Delta Kappa, Phi Delta Phi, and Phi Kappa Phi, he received a bachelor’s degree in education from the university in 1961. He returned to the university and received his JD in 1966, serving on the law journal and graduating third in his class. He was later granted a Sterling Fellowship and received his LLM at Yale University in 1981.

Dr. Khayat, who has practiced law and been a municipal judge in Pascagoula and Oxford, joined the university’s School of Law faculty in 1969. He served as Law School registrar and administrative assistant to the dean and was associate dean of the School of Law from 1974 until 1984. He was vice chancellor for university affairs from 1984 until 1989. From 1989 until 1992 he was president of the NCAA Foundation. He then returned to the university and was executive director of the Sesquicentennial Celebration and interim director of athletics.

He was named outstanding law professor in 1993–94, and members of the Mississippi Law Journal have endowed a scholarship in his honor. He served as president of the local Chamber of Commerce and in 1989 was named the Oxford-Lafayette County Citizen of the Year. He has received the National Football Foundation Distinguished American Award twice and was featured in “Springboard to Success” in The NFL and You. The National Association of Student Personnel Administrators recognized him with its President’s Award. He has been named to the Society of Entrepreneurs.

Dr. Khayat served as chair of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, was a member of the National Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, and serves on the board of the Joseph Bancroft Educational Trust and the Croft Institute for International Studies, the Mississippi Power Company, Sanderson Farms, the council of Presidents for the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute, and the Southern Growth Policies Board.

Since the chancellor’s appointment in July 1995, the university has experienced a major renaissance—obvious in enrollment increases, campus revitalization, and soaring public and private support.

Khayat is married to the former Margaret Denton, the only first lady to have graduated from the university. Their daughter, Margaret, is an attorney in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Their son, Robert, is an attorney in Atlanta; he and his wife have two children.

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1995 to Present: A New Dawning

Hall). Numerous additional buildings, including several former residence halls, were also renovated, including the old gymnasium—which became the Martindale Student Services Building—and the stately old Lyceum. The university even received awards for campus landscaping and for having all its buildings wired for Internet access.

Understandable in light of such unprecedented funding, student enrollment at the university increased significantly—especially among in-state students and AfricanAmericans (more than 66 percent Mississippians and approximately 13 percent black in November 2007).2 The continued rise in African-American enrollment has been a jewel in the university’s crown, and many people have worked hard to get to that point. In 2002 Ole Miss celebrated the fortieth anniversary of its integration and honored James Meredith (the brave student who was the first enrolled African-American) at a well-attended “Open Door” event. In 2006 another ceremony was held, this time for the dedication of a civil-rights monument and a statue of Meredith. And the administration supported a student resolution

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The UniversiTy of Mississippi

to ban sticks and pointed objects from sporting events—essentially preventing Rebel flags from being brought into the football stadium and waved on small poles.

Robert Khayat became seventy in April 2008. He showed no sign of slowing down. He spoke, however, of retiring in three years, hoping “to use the remaining three years of his contract to help find and orient a successor.” As he put it, ideally one “ought to have a provost or executive vice president or vice chancellor who’s going to be chancellor and who knows the culture and who can hit the ground running.”3

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1995 to Present: A New Dawning Most have not seen anybody on the scene with Khayat’s qualifications. He was a scholarathlete while a student at the university, taught many students who are now influential throughout the state, was a longtime associate dean, and worked as a vice chancellor under a talented leader. His vision has been compared to Barnard’s, and his personality has been compared to Hume’s. All agree that he will be difficult to replace.

In the meantime, the campus is enjoying the final years of a significant leader.

The map of the campus was acquired on March 5, 2007, by the Quickbird satellite.

(DigitalGlobe)

271

People of Influence

1995

to

P

resent

James and Sally McDonnell Barksdale (both 1965 graduates) endowed the McDonnell-Barksdale Honors College with, at the time, the largest single private donation in the history of the university— an enormously generous $5.4 million.

Barksdale later created the Barksdale Reading Institute with $100 million.

James and Donna Barksdale (Sally died in 2003) have given the university $2 million for a project for training school principals and $12.8 million for additional support of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College. (OM)

Gertrude Castellow Ford graduated from Andrew College in Georgia in 1936. She spoke several languages fluently and played a number of musical instruments.

A strong supporter of the arts throughout her life, she established the Gertrude C. Ford Foundation, which has supported many worthwhile projects in Mississippi.

The Gertrude Castellow Ford Center for the Performing Arts honors her memory.

Guy C. Billups, Jr., worked for Billups Petroleum Company, purchased the Merchants Bank and Trust Co. in Gulfport, was a member of the Whitney Board of Directors a partner in Billups Farms, and a director of Billups Plantation, Inc., of Indianola. He served on the Mississippi Gulf Coast Economic Development Council, the Gulfport Group, the National Coalition for Marine Conservation, and the International Game and Fish Association. The Guy C. Billups Rebel Club Seating area of the football stadium recognizes Billups for his longtime support to the University. (OM)

Ed and Becky Meek have made numerous contributions to the university over the years, including a $5.3 million gift to the Edwin Meek School of Journalism, MarketingCommunications and Technology, named in his honor. (IS)

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Trent Lott (BPA, 1963; JD, 1967) was president of his fraternity and the Interfraternity Council and a member of the student Hall of Fame. He was a field representative for the university from 1963 until 1965 and was acting law alumni secretary of the Alumni Association in 1966–67. After practicing law in Pascagoula, he was an administrative assistant to William Colmer from 1968 to 1972 and a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1973 until 1989, serving as house minority whip from 1981 to 1989. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1989 and was senate majority leader from 1996 until 2002. In 2006 he was elected minority whip in the Senate. The Trent Lott Leadership Institute is named in his honor. (OM) Deuce (OM)

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Members of the board of trustees of Institutions of Higher Learning are appointed by the governor for twelve-year terms. Pictured here are members of the board in 2007 (front row, left to right), Scott Ross, Dr. Bettye Henderson Neely, Dr. L. Stacy Davidson, Jr., Dr. D. E. Magee, Jr., Amy Whitten, Roy Estess; (back row) Commissioner Dr. Thomas C. Meredith, Ed Blakeslee, Thomas W. Colbert, Virginia Shanteau Newton, Bob Owens, Robin Robinson, and Aubrey Patterson. (BT)

TheWorld of Sports

Track stars (IS)

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The Lady Rebs play Alabama in soccer. (OM)

The university’s state-of-the-art Track and Field Complex, which includes a Mondo-surface facility, has nine lanes. It was completed in 2003. (IS) A modern soccer stadium, with seating for more than 1,500, was christened in September 1997. A new support building, with a media area, concessions, and restrooms, was added in 2002. (GW)

A women’s soccer team was established in 1995. Members of that first team are pictured here. (OM)

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The 1995 baseball team made it to the NCAA regional tournament. (OM)

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Some members of the Western Division SEC champions in 1998 (OM) Some of the tennis players from the 1997 team that made it to the final four in the NCAA tournament (OM)

Fans at a basketball game (IS)

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Some basketball trophies (GW)

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The university’s women’s sport of fast pitch softball began in 1997. The first games were played at a local community softball park. (OM)

Basketball games against State are exciting. (IS)

Women golfers (OM)

The first game at a new softball complex was played on February 22, 1998. The softball complex was renovated in 2005 at a cost of over $1 million. (IS)

A softball game (IS)

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Eli in action (IS)

Coach Cutcliff and the team with the victory trophy. (IS)

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Chancellor Khayat congratulates Anthony Boone as his jersey (41) is retired.

Mike Bianco was named head baseball coach in June 2000.

His teams’ overall record is 282-157-1. (OM)

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A Sony JumboTron scoreboard and message center was added at the football stadium in 1997. (GW)

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First-team All-American quarterback Eli Manning received the Maxwell Award, the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, and the 2003 National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete award. He set over forty university records, finished third in Heisman Trophy votes, and was the nation’s number one overall in the NFL draft in 2004. (OM)

Poole Drive is named after “America’s first family of football.” (GW)

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Volleyball game

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In 1997 the Gillom Center, a new multisport facility for women’s athletics, opened. The building houses offices and locker rooms for the rifle, soccer, softball, and volleyball programs and contains three indoor tennis courts, a championship volleyball court, and another court which can be used for both volleyball and basketball practices. The $2.5 million facility was built with university generated funds, a $325,000 contribution from the City of Oxford, and private gifts—such as those from alumni Louis Brandt and John Grisham. (IS)

The Indoor Practice Facility opened in 2004. A fund-raising campaign was led by Archie Manning and Richard Scruggs. Deuce McAlister and Mac Haik, among many others, contributed significantly. (GW) The FedEx Corporation (which has supported scholarships, the Whitten law chair, the Lott Leadership Institute, Rowan Oak, and the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation) contributed $2.5 million toward the construction of an academic support center for student athletes, completed in 2007. The Starnes Athletics Center now consists of two buildings—the Wes Knight Field House and the FedEx Student Athlete Academic Support Center—connected by an enclosed passageway. (GW)

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The top of the 150,000-square foot structure is seventynine feet above the floor. Some of the features are a wellequipped players’ lounge (with a game room, television, a computer/study lab, and a refreshment bar), staff offices (with state-of-the-art audio and video rooms), a banquet hall (accommodating approximately three hundred), a coach’s office suite (with a balcony and a view of the playing fields), an underground tunnel to the stadium, modern training areas, lockers, a full-sized indoor practice field, and meeting rooms.

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Weight rooms in Indoor Practice Facility

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All-American room in Indoor Practice Facility

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National Football League room in Indoor Practice Facility

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The classes of 2002 and 2003 sponsored an effort which led to the April 2005 dedication of a bricked area between the football stadium and the new indoor practice facility as the All-American Plaza. A statue created by Ronald Bartlett pays tribute to the accomplishments of university football players, especially Charlie Conerly, Charlie Flowers, Jerry Dean “Jake” Gibbs, Parker Hall, Doug Kenna, Frank M. “Bruiser” Kinard, Archie Manning, and Barney Poole. Bartlett used a Billy Harthcock photograph as a model for his work.

Words from the university’s fight song, “Forward Rebels,” are engraved into bricks at the plaza. (The complete words to the song, by E. F. Yerby, are “Forward Rebels, march to fame, Hit that line and win this game, We know that you’re fighting through, For your colors, red and blue, Fight, Fight, Fight! Take that ball and hit your stride, Don’t stop ‘til the vict’ry’s won for your Ole Miss, Fight, Fight for your Ole Miss!”)

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The Tad Smith Coliseum

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The Vaught-Hemingway Stadium

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Campus Life

During the sesquicentennial celebration each college or school designed a flag or banner, usually done by students, to use on such formal occasions as commencement. (ASC)

The schools at the Medical Center designed sesquicentennial banners also. (Provost’s files)

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At one time the Ole Miss Union flew flags representing all the home states and countries of students enrolled. (IS)

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Students study a map at orientation. (IS)

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The Grove during Homecoming weekend. (IS)

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Student politics (OM)

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New sidewalks in the Circle (OM)

Chancellor Khayat and the commanders review the cadets. (IS)

Dorm life (IS)

A Christmas tree is lighted in the Circle each year, with a light for every student. (IS)

Rebel Patrol members escort students from the library to their residence halls. (OM)

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Each year the band continues to excel, as well as entertain. (UM marching band) The University Gospel Choir began as the Black Student Union Choir. (OM)

Nick Lott, the first African-American to hold the position, was president of the ASB in 2000–01. (OM)

A view of the west entrance of the Lyceum from inside the library (OM)

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Students often study in the library. During exam weeks there are sometimes literally no chairs or tables available and students study while sitting on the floor. (GW) Chancellor Khayat with the time capsule from the Lyceum’s 1846 cornerstone, discovered during the Lyceum renovation in 1999. (OM) The yearly Afrolympics events, celebrated during Black History Month, do much to foster common goals among all students regardless of color or race. (IS)

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Chancellor Khayat declared that one of his goals would be the achievement of a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. On October 21, 2000, that goal was realized. English professor Dr. Ronald Schroeder chaired the university’s Phi Beta Kappa Faculty Application Committee and devoted approximately three years to compiling lengthy reports and coordinating local efforts and serving, with Chancellor Khayat, as a liaison with the national office. (IS)

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A crew sets up for the Mississippi Rising concert for Katrina relief. (IS)

Faith Hill performs. (IS)

The Oak Ridge Boys perform. (IS)

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Proud Larry’s is a favorite bar/restaurant on the east side of South Lamar, just off the square.

Jackson Avenue just west of the Oxford Square

“But above all, the courthouse: the center, the focus, the hub; sitting looming in the center of the county’s circumference like a single cloud in its ring of horizon, laying its vast shadow to the uttermost rim of horizon; musing, brooding, symbolic and ponderable, tall as cloud, solid as rock, dominating all: protector of the weak, judiciate and curb of the passions and lusts, repository and guardian of the aspirations and hopes.”

– William Faulkner, Requiem for a Nun

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The university bought the old Oxford depot and had it renovated and restored.

The Oxford City Hall was built in 1885 and was the first federal building in Oxford.

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West side of Oxford Square

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North side of Oxford Square is to left, behind the people.

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It is told that a freshman from New York City came to school at the University of Mississippi and laughed and laughed when told that the Oxford Square was a great place. Four years later, on the night before graduation, a friend drove him around the Square twice while he cried over having to leave.

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Oxford has two double-decker busses. Oxford also has a DoubleDecker Festival every spring. About fifty thousand people show up for arts and crafts, art sales, food and drinks, music, etc.

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In explaining what should be in an Ole Miss picture book, one student wrote: “Pictures of the night life in Oxford . . . . Try to capture one of the most important (to most students) parts of the Ole Miss experience—the bars! Sad to say, but it’s true.

Fine dining, fine people, good times!”

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City Grocery Balcony

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Night life in Oxford

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Clients, both the young and notso-young, receive excellent care at the university’s speech and hearing clinic in George Hall. (IS)

A dance class (OM)

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Academic Offerings

“This is high energy?� (IS)

Computer access became extremely important by the end of the 1990s. The residence halls and all academic buildings were wired; wireless connections began in several buildings a few years later. The university is considered one of the most technologically modern campuses in the country. (OM)

Building bridges (IS)

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Experiments in the chemistry lab (IS)

The Language Laboratory provides help to students studying modern languages. (OM)

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Sometimes the weather is just too nice for indoor classes. (IS)

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A classroom of laptops (IS)

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A Plethora of Distinguished Guests & Speakers

Dan Rather and the chancellor chat. (IS) Jesse Jackson lectures at the university. (OM)

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James Meredith speaks at a ceremony after giving his papers to the university. (IS)

Chancellor Khayat gives Morgan Freeman a campus tour. (IS)

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Senator John McCain meets with Lott Leadership students. (IS) Prince Edward gives a lecture on Windsor Castle. (IS)

His Majesty King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein, King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, visited the campus in February 2006, gave lectures, and met with several groups of students.

(IS)

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As Far as the Eye Can See

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A building at the DeSoto Center (IS)

Holman Hall, funded by the state, Henry Holman of Jitney Jungle, and alumni, has large classrooms, multimedia equipment, computer laboratories, study alcoves, seminar and conference rooms, and group study rooms. North Hall, joining Holman Hall with Conner Hall, has computer labs and distance-learning classrooms. (IS)

The Rebel Shop, near the football stadium, was completed in 1998. (GW)

The Fortune and Seymour Lawrence galleries at the museum were opened in 1998. Elizabeth Fortune provided funding for the Fortune Gallery in memory of her late husband, Chancellor Porter L. Fortune, Jr. Mrs. Fortune has been president of the board of directors of Friends of the Museums for a number of years and is a lifetime member of Friends. (GW)

After a complete renovation, the old gymnasium became a student services building. It is named for philanthropist Larry Martindale, who played basketball in the building when he was a student at the university. (IS)

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The John C. Bancroft Educational and Charitable Foundation, with leadership from alumnus Jerry Abdella, provided sixty million dollars for the establishment of an international studies program, including the complete renovation of the second oldest building on the campus. The interior of the old Y building was completely redone, and an attractive veranda was added to the back. The magnificent old building (which has had the names the Chapel, the Old Chapel, the Student Activities Center, the Y, and the Croft Building) now provides space for the Croft Institute for International Studies and the Study Abroad program. The first floor has offices and an auditorium which seats about one hundred. The other two floors contain offices, classrooms, and conference rooms. (IS)

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One of the first recommendations from the Cultural Center Committee in the 1960s was that the university construct a performing arts center. Funds for such an expensive building, however, did not come until 1998, when the Jackson-based Gertude C. Ford Foundation promised twenty million dollars for the magnificent structure. The Mississippi Legislature then appropriated over ten million more to complete the funding.

Completed in 2002, the center provides space for dance, theater, music and conferences, as well as rehearsal space, dressing rooms, and other space necessary to accommodate thousands of visitors. The main hall stands six stories high. (IS)

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The university’s center at Tupelo (UM IS)

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A historical marker at the Hilgard Cut (GW)

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The Paris-Yates Chapel was dedicated on April 28, 2001. (IS)

The sanctuary seats two hundred people. The chapel houses a pipe organ handmade by the Karl Wilhelm company. The Gene L Davidson Family and Sandra and Bill Johnson purchased the organ, honoring the Larry Martindales.

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Frank and Marge Peddle of Oxford funded a bell tower and carillon for the chapel. It was cast in Holland and manufactured by the Verdin Company of Cincinnati. The thirty-six bronze bells chime the hour and half hour. A carillonneur can perform on the instrument, or a computerized system can play recorded music. (IS)

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One landscaping society named the University of Mississippi the best maintained college campus in the nation.

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The Phi Mu Sorority celebrated seventy-five years at the university by funding a Phi Mu Fountain in the quadrangle between the library and the new chapel. It was dedicated on August 31, 2001.

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The Mentor

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East wing of Bondurant Hall

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Portals at a Bondurant Hall breezeway

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Farley Hall

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Bryant Hall was renovated in 2005 for the Department of Classics and Philosophy and Religion.

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Fulton Chapel

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Two of the domes built for telescopes are shown in this photograph of Barnard Observatory. For a number of years chancellors occupied the east wing of the building as their residences.

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The Trent Lott Leadership Institute is housed in renovated LaBauve Hall. Established in 1999, the institute honors U.S. senator Trent Lott. Its goal is to equip students with the skills necessary to assume leadership positions and effect change in their lives and the lives of those around them. (IS)

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North entrance to Martindale Hall

Plaque at north entrance to Martindale Hall, still called the Old Gym by many

Martindale Hall has a three-story atrium and a skylight. The massive staircase is shown here.

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A stairwell in Martindale after the old gymnasium was renovated to be a student activities center.

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North entrance to Martindale Hall

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The globe in Bryant Hall, now home for philosophy and religion and classics. The room was decorated by Lynda Mead Shea. (GW)

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The west entrance to the Williams Library after a major expansion was completed in 1997

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A civil rights monument features a lifesized bronze likeness of James Meredith sculpted by alumnus Rod Moorhead.

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A civil rights monument was dedicated in 2006. Historical markers, brick benches, and a seventeen-foot-tall limestone portal surround the statue, which is located between the Lyceum and the library. The words Courage and Perserverance cap two of the limestone columns. Opportunity and Knowledge are engraved on the other two. (GW)

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The front entrance to the Carrier House, home for the university’s chancellor

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A Brand-New Day

Chairs set up in the Grove for commencement (IS)

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Commencement in the Grove (IS)

“Let me be the first to call you Dr.” (OM)

“Will it ever end?” (IS)

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That’s it, folks. (HE)

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

A Fateful Wedding:

I

The Birth of the Paris -Yates Chapel

In 1954, two Ole Miss graduates, Henry Paris and Rose Marie Leonard, were engaged. He was in the Air Force and she was working as a flight attendant for American Airlines.

The couple had met at Ole Miss, although at the time Rose was dating one of Henry’s

friends. Henry had been a cheerleader and was elected “Colonel Reb” the same year Rose was “Rebelee Queen.”

Nothing transpired then, but after graduation, Henry happened to spot Rose at a traffic

light where both their cars were stopped. When he learned she no longer had a boyfriend, Henry asked her to the movies. Thus began their seven years of courtship.

They wanted to be married in Oxford. But because Henry was Jewish and Rose was Presbyterian, they had problems finding a church for their wedding. Rose was a member of Delta Gamma sorority, and her grandmother had been one of its founders. So Rose and Henry decided to hold the wedding at the sorority house, and a Presbyterian minister who was a family friend agreed to marry them in an ecumenical ceremony with elements of both their faiths. About one hundred people attended the wedding, including then Chancellor John D. Williams and Dean of Women Estelle G. Hefley.

The couple’s three children—son Lee Henry Paris II and daughters Irma Leonard Paris Harlow and Rachel Paris Causey—all went on to graduate from Ole Miss. Years later,

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 when Robert Khayat became chancellor, he hoped to build an interdenominational chapel on campus. Henry, who then lived in Indianola, and his son, Lee, offered to help. Henry remembered the problems he and Rose had experienced in looking for a place to marry and made the first donation. Lee served as cochair of the fund-raising committee, and he and his sisters all donated to the chapel as well. Later, Bill and Nancy Yates also provided a major gift, thus providing the chapel with its full name.

Henry Paris had only one request: a stained-glass window in the chapel bearing the intertwined symbols of the cross and the Star of David to symbolize the union of the couple’s faiths. Today, a stunning arched red-and-blue window with those symbols graces the entrance of the interdenominational Paris-Yates Chapel. The chapel opened on April 28, 2001, some forty-seven years after Henry and Rose searched in vain for a place to marry.

Now the chapel stays booked, usually with one or two wedding ceremonies each weekend.

Other events held there include recitals, christenings, Jewish and Catholic services, and international religion programs.

“I get a thrill every time I go in the chapel because I know its history and the love that went into it,” Henry Paris said.

But the Delta Gamma house still holds its charms for the family. When Lee attended Ole Miss, he went there to pick up a friend’s date and spotted a young woman sitting in the room where his parents had married.

“I met my wife, Lisa, six feet from where they said ‘I do,’” Lee Paris said. ~Robin Street

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Afterword When the university opened its doors in the fall of 1848, it consisted of four professors—one of whom was also the president—fewer than eighty students (all white males), six buildings, 640 acres of land, a budget just large enough to pay the professors’ salaries (although better times were to come, there was no money for books or equipment), and essentially one degree program. It was closed for four years during the Civil War and has endured good years and bad years since that time.

Total enrollment at all University of Mississippi campuses, including the Medical Center, in the fall of 2007 was 17,323. Over 69 percent were residents of Mississippi; almost 14 percent were African-Americans; almost 54 percent were female. Over six hundred were enrolled in the Tupelo Center, over 850 at the DeSoto campus (courses are offered also at Booneville and Grenada), and almost 2,200 at the Medical Center in Jackson.

The Medical Center at Jackson alone enrolls approximately 850 students in graduate or postgraduate work, over four hundred in the School of Medicine, about 125 in dentistry, approximately 250 in nursing, and around 450 in health-related professions. The Medical Center employs approximately 7,500 persons, approximately eight hundred of whom are faculty members, and has a budget of over $700 million.

In fall 2007, the Oxford-campus enrollment was 13,910. Eighty-four percent were undergraduates, 2,471 of them freshmen. Just over 3,400 lived in residence halls or apartments on the campus. Almost all states are represented. Four hundred ninety international students, from 65 different nations, were enrolled (reflecting an over 7 percent increase over the preceding year).

The average ACT score for entering freshmen was 22.9. There were one National Achievement Finalist, five National Merit Semifinalists, and twenty National Merit Finalists.

Although some university students are children of multimillionaires, approximately 75 percent of all degree-seeking university students receive some form of financial aid (grants, scholarships, work-study, or loans). During 2006–07 the university awarded $120 million to students (almost $90 million was for undergraduates). Well over five thousand undergraduates were awarded institutional scholarships, and well over five thousand received federal grants.

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Approximately 41 percent of undergraduates are considered to have some level of financial need; over 1,600 are considered to have “full need” for financial support. Mississippi residents were expected to spend $16,484 during an academic year for tuition and fees, housing, meals, books, transportation, and personal expenses.

The 13,910 Oxford-campus students registered 11,540 vehicles (SUVs and pickups are popular) and twenty motorcycles. Four thousand one hundred undergraduates were members of fraternities or sororities. Approximately 90 percent of the students own laptop computers.

Probably over half own iPods and over 90 percent own cellular telephones. Television sets and DVD players are standard equipment.

There are eight schools and one college on the Oxford campus, which offers 135 degree programs, from baccalaureate to doctoral. At the end of 2007, the university’s endowment stood at $495 million (the university is among the best endowed public universities per capita in the country). The library contained 1,268,000 volumes. There were 625 permanent faculty and 1,708 permanent staff members. Research funding was over $100,000 per year. The annual operating budget for 2006–07 was $411,105,607— $76,178,619 from state appropriations, $76,893,367 from federal funding, $112,844,923 from tuition, and $146,818,124 from other funding sources. The total payroll for 2006–07 was $186.9 million. The campus consists of 2,900 acres and 221 buildings.

As is the case at all major universities, students have numerous opportunities to participate in a large variety of activities: student government, clubs and organizations, religious groups, publications or other media, community service, intramural sports, workouts in the Turner Center, etc. Brown-bag discussion groups and lectures are scheduled almost every noon or afternoon on the campus. On most evenings there are choices—lectures, music, art, theater.

Throughout the year there are numerous workshops, conferences, and symposia. The Student Programming Board schedules such events as concerts in the Grove, Springfest, poetry competitions, parades, pageants, and picnics. The library and numerous computer labs are heavily used by many students. The Ford Performing Arts program for 2007–08 features programs from the Count Basie Orchestra to Evita; the Artist Series program ranges from music by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields chamber ensemble to a Romeo and Juliet by the St. Petersburg Ballet company. The most popular spectator sports are football, basketball, and baseball. Good movies are available on and off the campus. On the campus students have meals at a traditional cafeteria, at a food court in the student union building, or in fraternity or sorority houses. Art and museum exhibits, musical performances, and plays are always available. Many students enjoy fraternity or sorority parties, often including such

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events as spring formals on a riverboat on the Mississippi River. Trips to Sardis Dam and Memphis are popular. Time spent in the Grove is treasured by many.

Typical warm-weather, go-to-class dress is shorts, T-shirts, and flip–flops. Meghan Blalock, writing for The Daily Mississippian, explains: “Casual wear in Oxford consists typically of Nike shorts, an oversized T-shirt and Rainbow flip–flops. This is a Rainbow and North Face campus.” Typical cold-weather dress is jeans (often with holes in the knees) or sweatpants, sweatshirts, and walking shoes; boots are popular among females. Most female students own a number of dresses suitable for parties. Most males own dark suits and often wear blue blazers, red-and-blue ties, and khaki trousers.

Oxford, with a population of nineteen thousand (Lafayette County has a population of 39,000) has seen a burgeoning of new condominiums and apartments, restaurants, shopping centers, and bars. It is easy to find off-campus living arrangements. Restaurants ranging from franchise fast-food places to upscale are available. Oxford bars are often crowded during evenings and feature regional musical groups and big-screen television. Some of the most popular events are the Thacker Mountain Radio Show, the Oxford Conference for the Book, and the Double-Decker Arts Festival. The Pat Lamar Park is a favorite place for walking and jogging.

The words renovate and restore occur frequently throughout this work. I like to think of them as suggesting the university’s commitment to preserve the best of the past. Build and construct are used frequently also; to me they suggest the university’s commitment to serve the citizens of the area and to meet the needs of the future, indeed “to stamp upon the intellectual character of Mississippi the impress it is to wear, to determine the respectability of the State in the eyes of mankind, to stimulate her industry, to multiply the sources of her material wealth, to elevate and purify the tastes of her people, to enlarge their capacities for happiness, and to enable them to fill up those capacities by supplying them with continually growing means of rational enjoyment” (F. A. P. Barnard).

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CHANCELLORS

GEORGE FREDRICK HOLMES

July 1848–March 1849

ALBERT T. BLEDSOE

March–July 1849

AUGUSTUS B. LONGSTREET

July 1849–July 1856

FREDERICK A. P. BARNARD

August 1856–October 1861

WILLIAM D. MOORE

June–September 1860

JOHN NEWTON WADDEL

August 1865–July 1874

JOHN J. WHEAT

July–October 1874

ALExANDER P. STEWART

October 1874–July 1886

EDWARD MAYES

July 1886–December 1891

ROBERT BURWELL FULTON

December 1891–June 1906

ALFRED HUME

June 1906–June 1907

ANDREW ARMSTRONG KINCANNON

June 1907–June 1914

JOSEPH NEELY POWERS

June 1914–July 1924

ALFRED HUME

June 1924–June 1930

JOSEPH NEELY POWERS

June 1930–August 1932

ALFRED HUME

September 1932–June 1935

ALFRED BENJAMIN BUTTS

July 1935–June 30, 1946

ALFRED HUME

July 1942–December 1943; July 1–14, 1946

JOHN DAVIS WILLIAMS

July 15, 1946–January 31, 1968

PORTER LEE FORTUNE, JR.

February 1, 1968–April 2, 1984

R. GERALD TURNER

April 2, 1984–May 31, 1995

GERALD W. WALTON

June 1–30, 1995

ROBERT C. KHAYAT

July 1, 1995–Present

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Notes Chapter One 1. Journal of the Senate of the State of Mississippi (Jackson, MS: M. Price, 1841), action of January 26, 1841.

2. Albert Gallatin Brown, address of January 10, 1844, quoted in Robert E. McArthur and Dorothy I. Wilson, eds., Inaugural Addresses of the Governors of Mississippi (University, MS: University Bureau of Governmental Research, 1981), 52.

3. “An Address Delivered by Br. William F. Stearns, at the Laying of the Corner-Stone of the State University, at Oxford, Mississippi, on the 14th of July, 1846,” Oxford Masonic Lodge, number 33.

4. David G. Sansing, The University of Mississippi: A Sesquicentennial History (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 1999), 55.

5. John N. Waddel, Memorial of Academic Life: Being an Historical Sketch of the Waddel Family, Identified through Three Generations with the History of Higher Education in the South and Southwest (Richmond, VA: Presbyterian Committee of Publication, 1891), 267.

6. Frederick A. P. Barnard, Letter to the Honorable Board of Trustees of the University of Mississippi (Oxford, MS: University of Mississippi, 1858), 19.

7. William S. Burns, “From the Diary of Captain William S. Burns, Company I, 4th Missouri Cavalry (Union), 1864, Incidents in North Mississippi, Particularly Oxford (Burning of the Thompson House, and Ignoring General Smith’s Orders To Burn the University).”

Jeremiah Gage: Letters Home 1. Department of Archives and Special Collections, University of Mississippi Library.

2. Ibid.

3 Ibid.

Chapter Two 1. C. W. Grafton, “A Sketch of the University of Mississippi Embracing the First Three Years after the Civil War,” a typescript in the possession of the university, 1927, quoted in Allen Cabaniss, The University of Mississippi: Its First Hundred Years (Hattiesburg, MS: University College Press of Mississippi, 1971), 65.

2. A Memorial to the Mississippi Legislature, quoted in Edward Mayes, History of Education in Mississippi (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1899), 160.

3. Mayes, 161.

4. Ibid., 164.

5. Cabaniss, 96.

6. Memphis Appeal, June 1, 1886, quoted in Sansing, 138.

7. Mayes, 178.

8. Franklin Moak, “A History of Ole Miss,” in The Heritage of Lafayette County, Mississippi (Oxford, MS: Skipwith Historical and Genealogical Society, 1986), 99.

9. Cabaniss, 103.

Chapter Three 1. Sansing, 186.

2. 1931 Letter from Kincannon to G. C. Hooker, in G. C. Hooker, “The Origin and Development of the University of Mississippi with Special Reference to Its Legislative Control,” PhD dissertation, Stanford University, 1932, 215.

3. Allan Lemmon, “The University of Mississippi Confederate Cemetery: Lost Cause Ideology, Monumentation, and Ritual,” unpublished MA thesis, University of Mississippi, 2007.

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Notes Chapter Four 1. Itta Bena Times, quoted in Sansing, 194.

2. Sansing, 196.

3. Ibid.

4. Resolutions of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning [in the state of Mississippi], November 3, 1920.

5. Ibid.

Chapter Five 1. “Cardinal Club Is New Organization on Univ. Campus,” The Mississippian (November 4, 1927).

2. “Dr. Hume Requests Evolution Bill Be Vetoed,” The Mississippian (March 12, 1926).

3. Sansing, 232.

4. “Dr. Hume,” The Mississippian (April 19, 1930).

5. Ibid.

6. Walter N. Taylor, “Our State Supported Colleges,” Mississippi Educational Advance XXII (October 1930), 9.

7. Jackson Daily News, June 29, 1929, 8.

8. “Action Taken December 4, 1930, by the Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools of the Southern States,” letter from the Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools of the Southern States, n.d.

9. Cabannis, 145.

Ole Miss 1. “Mississippi Is Not Ole Miss,” The Mississippian, November 2, 1929.

2. William W. Sorrels and Charles Cavagnaro, Ole Miss Rebels: Mississippi Football (Huntsville, Alabama: The Strode Publishers, Inc., 1976), 43.

3. University newsletter, n.d.

4. Myra Hume Jones, “Tenets and Attitudes of an Old-Time Teacher,” unpublished MA thesis, University of Mississippi, 1949, quoted in Sansing, 222.

5. Frank E. Everett, Jr., quoted in Joan Bailey, “An Ode to Ole Miss,” Ole Miss Alumni Review, vol 55, number 3, Summer 2006, 30.

Sources: James “Blind Jim” Ivy: The First Significant Black Man at Ole Miss Eulogy given by Dr. George Street.

“History of Ivy,” Susie Marshall, University of Mississippi Special Collections.

The Daily Mississippian, Oct. 21, 1955, and Nov. 4, 1955.

Anthony James, “Paternalism’s Demise: Blind Jim Ivy and Ole Miss, 1896-1955,” Mississippi Folklife, Spring 1995.

Personal interviews with Kaye Bryant and Dewey Knight, Oxford residents who remembered him.

Chapter Six 1. Cabannis, 148.

2. Sansing, 247.

3. Cabannis, 158.

4. Ibid, 159.

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Notes Chapter Seven 1. University of Mississippi public information press release, n.d.

2. Provost’s files.

A University in Sculptures 1. Rod Moorhead, e-mail message to author, December 4, 2007.

2. Rod Moorhead, e-mail message to author, December 3, 2007.

3. Rod Moorhead, e-mail message to author, December 4, 2007.

Sources: George Street: A Real-Life Hero in 1962 The personal memoirs of George Street in possession of his daughter, Robin Street.

Chapter Eight 1. Sansing, 329.

Chapter Nine 1. Sansing, 342.

The Grove 1. Debbie Adams, Ole Miss 2. Adam Duerson, “Road Trip: University of Mississippi,” www.tailgating.com/Tour %2003/Ole%20Miss.htm, accessed December 10, 2007.

3. William L. Hamilton, “At Ole Miss the Tailgaters Never Lose,” New York Times, September 29, 2006.

Chapter Ten 1. “Robert Khayat Named Ole Miss Chancellor,” University of Mississippi Foundation News, Volume 1, number 3 (Summer 1995), 1.

2. University of Mississippi Bureau of Institutional Research and Assessment, www.olemissedu/depts/university_planning/ 3. Associated Press, “Khayat Hopes to Help Find, Orient Successor to Ole Miss Presidency, “ Clarion-Ledger (October 31, 2007), Sources: A Fateful Wedding Helps Build the Paris-Yates Chapel Interviews with Henry Paris and Lee Paris News releases from UM media relations Paris-Yates Chapel Calendar

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ABBREVIATIONS ASC = Archives and Special Collections, a department of the University of Mississippi Libraries AR = Ole Miss Alumni Review BT = Board of Trustees of Institutions of Higher Learning in Mississippi Cofield = J. R. “Colonel� Cofield GW = Gerald Walton HE = Department of Home Economics, University of Mississippi Hoar = Tom Hoar IS = Imaging Services, a department of the University of Mississippi Publications Office Jordan = Robert Jordan MDAH = Mississippi Department of Archives and History MHJ = Mississippi House [of Representatives] Journal MHP = Mississippi Highway Patrol Mullins = Phil Mullins OE = Oxford(Mississippi) Eagle OM = Ole Miss (the University of Mississippi student yearbook) SBC = State [Mississippi] Building Commission TM = The Mississippian or The Daily Mississippian (University of Mississippi student newspaper) UM = University of Mississippi UML = University of Mississippi Libraries White = Betty Mullens White

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ccording to the Mississippi House Journal, “The plan for the Lyceum is a parallelogram ninety feet by fifty-five, and is technically termed Prostyle, having a hexastyle portico on the entrance front.” The portico rests “on six columns, of the Corinthian order [manufactured in Cincinnati], finished in a plain, neat, and substantial manner. It contains spacious and airy halls, and nine large rooms, well adapted to college purposes.” Extant photographs show the Lyceum after the middle section was lengthened by thirty-six feet at the back in 1858. (ASC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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he South Professors’ Residence, at the current site of Carrier Hall, was directly across the circle from the North Professors’ Hall. (A. Albert, ASC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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he Southwest Dormitory was located where the old chemistry-pharmacy building now stands. Its three sections were Franklin, Madison, and Washington. By the 1900s the dormitory was often called the Lyceum Dormitory. This dormitory was last used in 1917 and demolished in 1919. (ASC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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wo residences for faculty members were part of the original campus. Each building had space for two professors and their families. The North Professors’ Residence stood where Bryant Hall is today. It was removed in 1907. (A. Albert, ASC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

he board of trustees changed their minds, and a building begun as a dormitory became a chapel. William Stearns was the principal speaker at the dedication of the building designed by architect M. J. McGuire. Twelve Doric columns supported the second-floor gallery. It would appear that a major alteration to the roof—parapets removed, a hipped roof added, and chimneys rebuilt—took place not long after the original construction. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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s the student body grew, it became clear that Steward’s Hall was not big enough for serving meals to all. A new commons building was built in 1857 on the south side of University Avenue just west of the railroad. It was at first called the New Steward’s Hall, but it became officially named Taylor Hall. It was later home for the Preparatory Department, a gymnasium, a men’s dormitory (after a second floor, with small sections on each side, was added in 1905),

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Buildings and Monuments faculty residences, the YMCA, and the Music Department.

It was demolished in 1938 and an apartment building built on the site. (ASC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

Shiloh Battle, the chapel became a hospital and the Magnetic Observatory became a morgue. When soldiers, both Federal and Confederate, died, their bodies were taken to the building, which came to be known as the Dead House. After the Civil War, the Dead House was used as a chapter house for the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, a faculty residence (at different times for the William Kennons, Ray Legate, and the Malcolm Guesses), a room for initiations for the Chi Omega sorority, and, last, a home of the Law School’s Law School Journal. It was demolished in 1958 so that an annex could be built for Farley Hall. (ASC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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y 1856 the need for a new dormitory was urgent; a new one was built directly across the circle from the Chapel (Y Building). The three sections were named Odom, Jackson, and Calhoun Halls. An express office, a small store, and the post office (and later the student newspaper) were located in the dormitory, and the Southeast Dormitory came to be called the Post Office Dormitory. In 1918 the rear end of the building toppled over, and the entire building was then demolished. (A. Albert, ASC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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he observatory is 164 feet in length, has two meridian openings, and two revolving towers. The city of Chicago purchased, for $16,000, the equatorial telescope intended for the observatory building, which was home to physics and astronomy until 1939. (A. Albert, ASC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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he superintendent of the American Coast Survey invited the university to participate in some major research projects. Special equipment in a special building containing no iron would be required. The Magnetic Observatory was built according to specifications. The building was almost entirely brick; the outside walls were thirty inches deep— an outside wall of ten inches of brick, an air space of ten inches, and another wall ten inches thick. Nails and other materials were made of copper since iron would endanger experiments having to do with magnetism. Following the

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he Confederate statue was purchased from the Columbus (Mississippi) Marble Works; the stone was from the Tate quarries of Georgia; an Italian artist was the sculptor. It is said that the statue stands at the spot where the University Greys stacked their books as they left the campus in 1861.

One side contains a selection from Byron’s “Siege at Corinth”: “They fell devoted, but undying; / the very gale their names seemed sighing;/ The waters murmer’d of their name; / The woods were peopled with their fame;/ The silent pillar, lone and gray, / with their sacred clay; / Their spirits wrapp’d the dusky mountains, / Their memory sparkled o’er the fountain; / The meanest rill, the mightiest river, / Roll’d mingling with their fame forever!” Another contains the words “To Our Confederate Dead 1861–1865, erected by Albert Sidney Johnston Chapter 379 U. D. C.” On one side is a Greek quotation recommended and translated by Classics professor Paul Sanders. It is said that the words come from the poet Simonides, writing about Spartans slain at the pass of Thermopylae in their valiant but lost cause. The translated Greek is this: “O stranger, announce to the Lacedemonians that there we lie, their mandates obeying.” Another side reads “To the Heroes of Lafayette County Whose Valor and Devotion Made Glorious Many a Battlefield.” (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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faculty residence southwest of the Lyceum was constructed in 1910. The Somervilles, the Howertons, the Horace Browns, and the John Dorrohs were residents in its early years. Beginning in 1931, the house was used as a Panhellenic house for the eight sororities. Later it became the home of Dr. David Bishop and his family. In 1951 the building became the home for the University Faculty Club.

In 1963 the building was converted to offices and classrooms.

The English Department, the Department of Communicative Disorders, University Development, the Honors College, and International Studies were on occasion occupants of the building. Currently the building is the home of the dean of the School of Applied Sciences. The building became the George M. Street University House in 1998. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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he university catalog described Gordon Hall thus: “The new dormitory for men . . . is thoroughly modern in all its appointments and will accommodate two hundred students.

Each living room has two ample closets supplied with shelves and hooks and large enough for trunks; a lavatory, with hot and cold water; a radiator, and an electric light. By means of outside windows, abundant light and ventilation are secured for every room. Bath and toilet rooms are provided on every floor. Broad corridors and stairways give easy access to all parts of the massive structure. Immediately back of the main entrance is a spacious lobby, from which hallways extend right and left, wide double stairs lead to a landing connected by a single flight with the second floor, and through which the dining hall in the rear may be reached . . . . The front of the building is nearly two hundred feet long, and there are two wings each a little less than one hundred feet in depth.” (ASC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

faculty residence northwest of the Lyceum was constructed in 1910. The A. W. Mildens lived in the house for a number of years. In 1944 it was renovated and converted to a home management house for the Home Economics Department. It was used by the Department of Public Relations for a number of years and in 2005 became home for the Graduate School and Institutional Research.

(OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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n early sketch showed a dome on the library (as is often the case, plans were most likely changed in order to reduce building costs). (ASC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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eupree Hall was originally named Lamar Hall, but when law moved into the old library (Ventress Hall), that building was named Lamar Hall. “Lamar” was chiseled out of the marker over the door and the dormitory renamed Deupree Hall, in honor of Dr. John Greer Deupree, the first dean of the School of Education. Last used as a dormitory in 1978, the building, after a recent renovation, is home to the Department of Political Science and related research centers. (SBC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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ast used as a residence hall in 1973, Hill Hall, named in memory of Judge Robert A. Hill of Oxford, has been used for auxiliary space for a number of years and currently houses English As a Second Language and the magazine Living Blues. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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aBauve Hall, named for Felix LaBauve, was a dormitory from 1920 until 1972. In recent years it has provided storage and office space for health professions advisement, business administration and accountancy, and student employment. A major renovation was completed in 2004, and it now houses the Trent Lott Leadership Institute. (SBC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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n earlier dormitory named Odom was demolished before the construction of the 1920 dormitory named in John Odom’s memory. The building was for years used as a dormitory for sixty male students. From 1968 until 2003 the university’s Police Department was housed in part of the building. It has also provided office space for faculty members and graduate students, the telephone exchange, and the yearbook. After a renovation, the building now houses legal studies and public policy leadership. (SBC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

ardaman Hall was named in memory of James K. Vardaman. Closed as a dormitory in 1974, it has been renovated and used for administrative offices. It currently houses the Luckyday Success program, developmental studies, the Office of Research Integrity and Compliance, and the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation.

(GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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arnard Hall, connected to Isom Hall and Somerville Hall and named in memory of Chancellor Barnard, was designed for occupancy by one hundred women. It was last used as a residence hall in 1996; it now houses all of the ROTC programs. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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omerville Hall, connected to Barnard Hall, was designed for seventy female students. It was used as a dormitory until 1973 and then once more from 1978 until 1996. It now houses the Mississippi Alliance for Minority Participation, some members of the English Department, and the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. The building was named in memory of law dean Thomas H. Somerville. (GW; OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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ayes Hall was designed to house eighty-four male students. It honors the memory of Chancellor Edward Mayes; it has seen continuous use as a residence hall but is currently closed for major renovations. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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arland Hall, Hedleston Hall, and Mayes Hall were built around a courtyard in 1938; construction was funded partly by the Public Works Administration. Garland Hall, designed for seventy-two male students, is named in memory of Landon Cabell Garland. It was in continuous use as a residence hall but is currently closed for renovation. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

eavell Hall, designed for seventy-two male students, was constructed in 1938. WPA funds supported the construction. It was last used as a residence hall in 1981 and is now home for sociology and anthropology and related research bureaus. It was named in memory of philosophy and political science professor Richard Marion Leavell. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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edleston Hall is a three-story hall built to house sixtytwo male students. It was a residence hall until it was closed in 2005. The building was named in honor of chemistry and ethics Professor Winn David Hedleston. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

hortly after World War II the university, with help from the Federal Works Agency, purchased several government surplus buildings. Home economics and military science moved from Peabody, leaving more space for education faculty. Psychology moved from Science Hall, leaving more room for biology. Much of engineering moved from the Lyceum, providing more space in the Lyceum for commerce and business. Journalism, political science, and placement and financial aid moved into temporary buildings. One of the buildings was used as an auxiliary cafeteria; another provided needed classrooms. (AR) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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ormally dedicated on October 7, 1947, the old physics and astronomy building became McCain Hall, honoring former university student Admiral John Sidney McCain.

Admiral William F. Halsey was the major speaker. McCain Hall was home to naval science until 1992, when the building was renovated and given in entirety to the Center for the Study of Southern Culture and became officially known as Barnard Observatory. (ASC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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am Hall was one of the dormitories constructed in 1948 as a residence hall for sixty-four male students. It was dedicated in November 1949; Arthur Clark made comments about Billy Sam, who was killed in action during World War II. The dormitory was closed in 1971 and was occasionally used as a haunted house at Halloween. Sam Hall and Gerard Hall were connected and renovated and provide space for the university’s publishing and publications offices. Photo: (ASC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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new laundry building was completed on the west side of the campus in 1948. The laundry was powered by a 200-horsepower automatic oil burner, and its power plant provided steam heat for the laundry building and nearby Guyton Hall. In the 1970s the building became the home for university receiving and printing services. In 1989 it was remodeled and expanded and became the location of the Mississippi Center for Supercomputing Research. (SBC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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erard Hall was one of the men’s dormitories (it housed sixty-four residents) constructed in 1948. It was dedicated in November 1949; Noah Sweat made comments about Gus Gerard, who was killed in action in 1944. The dormitory was closed in 1970. It and Sam Hall were renovated and connected as the home for Printing Services and Publications. (ASC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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ester Hall was constructed in 1948 for ninety male students. It was one of the dormitories dedicated in November 1949, with Senator John W. Kyle making comments about Drane Lester, killed during World War II. The building has not been used as a residence hall since 1970 and was used for storage. After a refurbishing, the building is now home to geology and geological engineering and the Mississippi Mineral Resources Institute. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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he Band Hall, constructed in 1950, was designed as headquarters for the marching band and the Speech Department. It was later used by the Physics and Astronomy Department and then by Intercollegiate Athletics. In 2006 it became home for the University Counseling Center. (ASC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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building for continuation study was constructed in 1954; it has an auditorium and space for extension study, conferences, institutes, and film production. In 1987 the building was named the E. F. Yerby Conference Center to honor Mr. Yerby, who spearheaded continuation studies at the university. (ASC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

our homes on University Avenue, including one occupied

by Professor Joseph Cerny for several years, were demolished in preparation for the new education building, now the music building. (AR) vvvvvvvvvvvv

n 1956 a new structure was added to the University High School building, and the School of Education moved to the building from Peabody Hall. The School of Education moved to Guyton Hall in 2004, and the building became home to the Department of Music; the Education School gymnasium had already been renovated and made into a band hall in 2001.

(OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

art of one of the temporary buildings (west of Bondurant Hall) is shown at the left of the photograph above. (ASC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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arrier Hall, dedicated on November 30, 1955, contains offices, laboratories, meeting rooms, and classrooms and was in its early years home for nearly all of the School of Engineering, including the office of the dean. It was later the first home of the university’s computer center. (ASC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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he old post office building was used as a speech and hearing laboratory in the 1950s. (Museums: Cofield) vvvvvvvvvvvv

n 1958 construction began on Meek Hall, to have a large auditorium, classrooms, studios, offices, and laboratories for the departments of home economics and music. Home economics and music occupied Meek Hall from 1960 until 2004. Home economics moved to Lenoir Hall, and music moved to the previous education building. Meek Hall now serves as home for the Department of Art. The building was renovated in 2007. The restructured auditorium will be used primarily by theatre arts. The building was named in honor of Elma Meek, who suggested Ole Miss as the title for the 1897 yearbook. (ASC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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Buildings and Monuments

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efley Hall, a women’s residence hall designed to house 150 students, was completed in 1959. It was the first Ole Miss dormitory to be constructed with central air conditioning. It underwent a major restoration, as part of a Phoenix Project, in 2002. It is named for Dean of Women Estella Hefley. (IS) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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uess Hall, named in honor of Dean Malcolm Guess, was dedicated on April 26, 1961. The first men’s dormitory to be centrally air-conditioned, Guess Hall was constructed as a dormitory for 224 male students. It has two separate wings, both connecting to a first-floor lobby. At one time it was reserved for graduate or law students. It was the first dormitory, in 1984, to house both male and female students, in the two separate wings. It now houses female students.

(ASC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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owers Hall, a $300,000 residence hall designed to house 116 male students, is named in memory of Chancellor Joseph N. Powers. It was dedicated in 1959. It was not used as a residence hall after 1981 and was renovated and extended in 1987–88 for the computer center (Information Technologies). (ASC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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iller Hall, dedicated on March 21, 1959, was the first dormitory planned specifically for athletes (it accommodated 122 males). It included common space, a dining hall, and rooms for study and team meetings. Since 1975 it has provided headquarters for Student Housing.

The dormitory, now housing female students, was named for Martin Van Buren Miller. (IS) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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onner Hall, completed in 1961, became home for the School of Business Administration, which at that time included accountancy. Named in memory of Governor Martin Stennet Conner, it was dedicated on November 17, 1961. The building was renovated and enlarged in 1999 and is home to the E. H. Patterson School of Accountancy. (IS) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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n Intercollegiate Athletic Office building, with meeting space and offices, was constructed on Fraternity Row in 1961 for use by administrators, coaches, and publicity staff. It is to be renovated and used by the School of Applied Sciences. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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he first basketball game in the new coliseum was played on February 18, 1966. It also serves as a place for commencement exercises. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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rown Hall, designed for housing 250 female students, was occupied in 1961. It was named for Maud Morrow Brown, a distinguished alumna. It now houses male students.

(IS) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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rosby Hall, the largest hall for women students, accommodating 756, was occupied in 1971. The tenstory dormitory has a computer room, lounges with television sets, a convenience store, a laundry, and a kitchenette. The building was known as New Dorm until 1984, when it was named for Dorothy Crosby, who had made major financial contributions to the university, especially for the restoration of Rowan Oak. (IS) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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tewart Hall, a residence hall for 300 women students, was constructed in 1963. The largest residence hall for females at that time, it is named in memory of Chancellor Alexander Stewart. Some residents called it the “Stewart Hilton� because of its splendid amenities. Sometimes they did complain, though, about the climb up the hill to the other parts of the campus. (IS) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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or a number of years the bookstore was on the ground floor at the east end of Johnson Commons. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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he back of Johnson Commons West (opened in 1963) after installation of a new roof recently (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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oulter Hall, completed in 1977, provides offices, classrooms, and laboratories for the Department of Chemistry. The building, named in honor of Dean Victor Aldine Coulter, was dedicated on October 31, 1978. (IS) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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eorge Hall was renovated and expanded for the Department of Communicative Disorders and the Speech and Hearing Clinic and rededicated on March 25, 1994. (IS) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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he Hollingsworth Lecture Room in Coulter Hall (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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he Barnard Observatory was completely renovated between 1990 and 1992. (IS) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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research wing added to the back of Lewis Hall was dedicated on December 11, 1944. vvvvvvvvvvvv

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he Jamie Whitten National Center for Physical Acoustics was dedicated on October 19, 1990. The NCPA building contains an anechoic chamber, a darkroom, a cleanroom, a high-bay laboratory, wind tunnels, small laboratories, an eighty seat auditorium, a carpentry shop, an electronics shop, and a machine shop. (IS) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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he natural products building takes shape. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

he first event at which Dr. Khayat presided as chancellor was the dedication of the historic marker for Magnolia Drive. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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r. Thomas Isom built a fine home in Oxford around 1835 (it was expanded in 1840 and in 1862). Meetings of the university’s board of trustees were often held in the house, which was also an office and apothecary. Susan Barksdale purchased the house in 1995 as a bed-and-breakfast business.

In 2000 she gave the Isom-Barksdale house to the university, which maintains the house and grounds. The Barksdale Reading Institute is housed in the building. (IS) vvvvvvvvvvvv

he National Food Services Management Institute was formed at the university in 1994. It was first housed in a building that was originally a chapter house for the Sigma Chi fraternity and in nearby trailers. The National Food Services Management Institute building was dedicated on March 23, 2001. The center is dedicated to continually improving child nutrition programs. It provides information using up-to-date technology. The building was named the R. Gerald Turner Hall in 2007. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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onner Hall was rededicated on September 10, 1999, and the accountancy program named the E. H. Patterson School of Accountancy. The building includes offices, multimedia classrooms, and computer laboratories. (IS) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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he demonstration technology transfer building at the Field Station was dedicated on June 1, 2001. The Center for Water and Wetland Resources includes experimental field sites, demonstration areas, and state-of-the-art laboratories.

(UM Field Station) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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he Blackburn/McMurray Outdoor Sports Complex, managed by Campus Recreation, includes an intramural sports field, a sport club field, six regulation tennis courts located behind the Turner Center, and eight regulation tennis courts behind the music building. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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Buildings and Monuments T

he Galtney Center for Academic Computing, located in Weir Hall, opened in November 2002. The computer lab in the center has over seventy computers, scanners, copy machines, and color and standard printers. The center is named for alumni Will and Susanne Galtney, who contributed $4 million for the renovation of Weir Hall. The Department of Computer and Information Science and the Adler Computer Laboratory are also located in the building. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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golf course, a short distance north of the campus, was opened in May 1965. It had only twelve holes at first, but the number was increased to eighteen in 1967. A club house was opened in 1975. John Whitten and Marianne Thaxton Whitten contributed funds for the construction of the Whitten Golf Center, completed in 2002. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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he Zeta Tau Delta house was purchased by the university and became the home of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences. It was named Lenoir Hall, honoring Lenoir Stanley, an alumna of the family and consumer sciences program. Lenoir and her husband, John (also a university graduate), provided funds for renovating and retrofitting the house. (IS) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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n engineering science building was named the Charles Smith Engineering Science in 2004. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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he Carriage House, connected to Memory House, was built in 2002 to house a growing advancement team and houses such activities as the Annual Fund, Ole Miss First, and the Student Calling Center. Private funds provided more than $1 million for the construction. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

he name of the Honors College was changed to the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College in memory of Mrs. Barksdale, who died in 2003. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

he gift of the class of 2005 is a monument in front of the north wing of the Lyceum. It includes the words of the university’s creed, adopted in 2003. The creed reads: “The University of Mississippi is a community of learning dedicated to nurturing excellence in intellectual inquiry and personal character in an open and diverse environment. As a voluntary member of this community: I believe in respect for the dignity of each person; I believe in fairness and civility; I believe in personal and professional integrity; I believe in academic honesty; I believe in academic freedom; I believe in good stewardship of our resources; I pledge to uphold these values and encourage others to follow my example.” (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

he previous School of Education building was renovated at a cost of $3.5 million for the Department of Music, which moved to the new building in 2005. The large auditorium in the music building was renovated in 2006 and is named the David H. Nutt Auditorium in appreciation of his numerous contributions to the university. (IS) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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n 2005 the university’s electrical generation plant, completed in 2002, was named the Johnny M. Williams Electrical Generation Plant in Williams’ honor. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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new health and safety complex, part of the Physical Plant Department, was completed in 2006. It includes three buildings, two for storage and one for administration. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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ew facilities for the physical plant offices and warehouses were completed in 2005 at an area west of the main campus. The physical plant administration building is named in honor of John W. White. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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ormer faculty houses are being moved from the campus and made available as affordable housing in Oxford.

(AR) vvvvvvvvvvvv

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ourteen-foot-high entrance gates on University Avenue at the east entrance to the campus were funded by an anonymous donor. The 1929 engravings were retained.

Chancellor Khayat has said, “Almost every place of significance has an announcement of arrival. I thought if we had strikingly beautiful entrance gates, people would know they were entering an extraordinary setting, one that enhances the teaching and learning environment.” (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

I

n 2004 the Oxford-University airport runways were extended considerably, and an automated weather system was added. A new terminal was completed in 2006. The terminal is named in honor of Jim and Mary Sharp Rayner, in appreciation of their extraordinary support of the university.

(GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he gate on the east side of the north entrance to Sorority Row includes the words “Class of 2001”; the one on the west has “Class of 2004.” (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he Freedom Foundation contributed $5 million of the funds for the renovation of Farley Hall and the construction of

360

Buildings and Monuments A

the new Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics.

The facility includes an auditorium for three hundred, conference rooms, offices, and a balcony overlooking the Grove. The center, named for alumnus Charles L. Overby, chairman and chief executive officer of the Freedom Forum, was completed in 2007. The words Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, and Petition are engraved on the front of the building, and the First Amendment is quoted on a wall of the auditorium. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

fter previous physical plant buildings were retrofitted, they became the home of Intercollegiate Athletics including Administration, Sports Information, the Loyalty Foundation, and Sports Productions. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

O

ne previous physical plant building became a library annex, housing Modern Political Collections. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he FedEx Corporation contributed $2.5 million toward the construction of a $5 million academic support center for student athletes, completed in 2007. The Starnes Athletics Center now consists of two buildings—the Wes Knight Field House and the FedEx Student Athlete Academic Support Center—connected by an enclosed passageway. The academic support unit includes conference rooms, offices, study areas and tutoring rooms, modern classrooms, a computer lab, and a large auditorium. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

B

uilt in 1994 as a telecommunications center, the procurement services building houses Procurement Services, Central Receiving, and Property Control. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he Trehern building was completed in 2007. It houses the baseball coaching and support staff. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he National Food Services Management Institute building was named R. Gerald Turner Hall in 2007. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he McCain Plaza near Barnard Hall was completed in 2007. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

361

The University of Mississippi

T

he university is planning a Center for Manufacturing Excellence, in order to serve the manufacturing industries in the state, related to the Toyota plant being built near Tupelo. It will be constructed between Carrier hall and the old chemistry building. (Linda Spargo) vvvvvvvvvvvv

A

walkway connecting the west breezeway of Bondurant Hall to the second-floor entrance of Bishop Hall nears completion. There will be a pavilion between the two buildings. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

A M

ost of the married student housing apartments have been demolished. A new law center, to be named in honor of Chancellor Robert Khayat, is to be built in the area for use in the fall of 2010. (Linda Spargo) vvvvvvvvvvvv

P

revious faculty houses on Sorority Row are being moved.

New residential college buildings will be constructed in 2009. (Linda Spargo) vvvvvvvvvvvv

s the year 2007 ended, work began on a major renovation and expansion of the baseball stadium. Seating capacity will increase to six thousand. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he addition to the Inn at Ole Miss will have an eight-story tower with new suites, a large ballroom, a fitness center, a cafĂŠ, and meeting rooms. The tower will be connected to the north end of the current building; on the first floor will be a boardroom, registration area, and the hotel lobby. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

A

new bridge has been constructed where the railroad bridge used to cross Jackson Avenue. In 2007 the first phase of a Pathways Project was begun. Several miles of bike lanes and paths are planned. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

362

Buildings and Monuments G

reek

L

ife

A

t the time it was built, the Sigma Chi house was the last house on Fraternity Row (another was built west of it later). After members of Sigma Chi built another, its original house was occupied by Phi Epsilon Pi, Phi Kappa Theta, and Phi Beta Sigma. The house is currently unoccupied. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

D

elta Psi was in the fortunate position of being able to regain its chapter house after the fraternity ban was lifted; the house had been serving as a faculty residence.

(OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he university’s Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity was organized in 1927. Its chapter house was completed in 1937. Sigma Pi (its university chapter was established in 1953) purchased the house about 1958. The Delta Kappa Epsilons then bought the house. In 1988, in an effort to assist a minority fraternity gain a position on Fraternity Row, the DKEs offered the house to the Phi Beta Sigmas. The deal was almost worked out; but, unfortunately, the house was burned, in August 1988, before the fraternity could move in. After it burned, a truly collaborative effort made it possible for the Phi Beta Sigmas to move into the original Sigma Chi house. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

K

appa Alpha’s university chapter began in 1900. Its first house was on Fraternity Row. Columns and a porch were added later. Chi Psi, who had a university chapter from 1858 until 1895 and was re-founded, bought the house, which has been the Chi Psi lodge since 1973. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

363

The University of Mississippi

T

he Delta xi chapter of Kappa Sigma fraternity was established in 1926. Its house was one of the original ones on Fraternity Row. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

I

n 1924 the Alpha Delta chapter of Phi Mu was founded.

Its first house was on Sorority Row at the site of its current building. It was expanded about 1940. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

A

chapter of Delta Zeta was organized on the campus in 1927. Its chapter house on Sorority Row was occupied during the fall semester in 1937. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

D

C

hi Omega’s local chapter was founded in 1899. Its first chapter house was built in 1937 and occupied that fall.

(OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

I

n 1927 a group known as Sigma Alpha became the Alpha Mu chapter of Kappa Delta. After several years of inactivity the chapter was reinstated in 1934. Its house was completed in 1936. The house has been changed and expanded a number of times. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

elta Tau Delta formed a university chapter in 1886 and owned one of the early houses on Fraternity Row. The fraternity was abolished in 1942. During World War II the university bought the house. For a while some of the Phi Delta Theta members roomed in the house, while its house was used by the Army for an officers’ club. Sigma Phi Epsilon, whose university charter was established in 1927, occupied the house for a while and made some changes to it. It later became home to Delta Psi, whose university chapter was established in 1855. The house burned in 1966. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he university chapter of Sigma Nu was established in 1927. Its first house, completed in 1936, was on Fraternity Row. After Sigma Nu built a new house in 1959, Sigma Phi Epsilon purchased the Sigma Nu house and occupied it until the house was sold to Phi Kappa Tau in 1968. The house was later sold to Tau Kappa Epsilon, but it reverted back to Phi Kappa Tau. The university later came into ownership and demolished the house.(OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

364

Buildings and Monuments

P

hi Kappa Psi, whose university charter was granted in 1857, had constructed a chapter house on Fraternity Row by 1938. Phi Kappa Psi later purchased a previous Phi Delta Theta chapter house. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he Kappa Delta house has been changed and extended a number of times. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he Mystic Seven, founded in 1858, merged with Beta Theta Pi on the campus in 1879. Its first chapter house was one of the early ones just off Fraternity Row. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

D

elta Gamma, organized at the Lewis School in Oxford in 1873, is the only national sorority which had its beginnings at the university. The sorority’s first chapter house, completed in 1938, was on Sorority Row. Additions to the house took place in 1950 and the 1960s. The house burned on March 30, 1976. (GW; OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he university chapter of Alpha Tau Omega was founded in 1927. Its first chapter house was just off Fraternity Row. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

Z

eta Tau Alpha’s university charter began in 1939. Its first house, on Sorority Row, was completed that same year.

Later another ZTA house was built on the same spot; additions took place later. The university’s chapter was abolished; and in 2004 the house was purchased by the university. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

365

The University of Mississippi

T

he Chi Omegas have a new chapter house. Alpha Delta Pi, its university chapter founded in 1960, purchased and renovated the house in 1964. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter was colonized in 1947.

Its chapter house, on Sorority Row, was constructed in 1949. An addition took place later. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

A

chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon was established at the university in 1927. For a time the fraternity used the house pictured above. Sigma Phi Epsilon then moved to the previous Delta Tau Delta house and then to the previous Sigma Nu house before moving to the previous Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter house. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

S

igma Alpha Epsilon built a new chapter house on Fraternity Row in 1955 (the house has been owned by Sigma Phi Epsilon for a number of years). (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

P

hi Delta Theta built a new house after its first one burned in 1941. During World War II the house was rented for a while by the Army for an officers’ club. In 1960 the fraternity sold this house to Phi Kappa Psi, which still occupies it.

(OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

366

Buildings and Monuments

T

he university’s Alpha Omicron Pi chapter was founded in 1957. For a while the sorority occupied the house pictured at bottom right. A new house was constructed on Rebel Drive in 1963 and expanded later. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he Sigma Nu fraternity completed construction of a new chapter house in 1959 (Sigma Phi Epsilon moved into the previous Sigma Nu house). It underwent one renovation, and a major renovation and expansion project was almost complete at the end of 2007. (OM; GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he Pi Kappa Alphas built their current chapter house in 1958. (Angelia) vvvvvvvvvvvv

M

embers of Sigma Chi occupied their current new chapter house in 1960. It was later expanded. (OM; Angelia) vvvvvvvvvvvv

F

or a while Phi Kappa Thetas used the house pictured above as their chapter house. Later they moved into the original Sigma Chi house. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

I

n 1960 the Delta Kappa Epsilons built a house to replace the one that burned in 1957. Later the Sigma Pi fraternity occupied and renovated the house, giving it a more traditional façade. Phi Gamma Delta later purchased the house and did further renovation work. In 2005 the Delta Kappa Epsilons returned to their location on Fraternity Row, re-purchasing their chapter house from the Phi Gamma Deltas. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

367

The University of Mississippi

T

he Chi Omegas occupied their current chapter house on Rebel Drive in February 1964. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

A

chapter of Pi Beta Phi was organized at the university in 1962. The sorority first occupied the building pictured above. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he Pi Beta Phi sorority moved into its new house on Rebel Drive in 1965. (Angelia) An extensive renovation and expansion project was completed in 2007. vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he Beta Theta Pi fraternity moved into a new house in September 1964 and still occupies that house. It replaced one that burned. (Angelia) vvvvvvvvvvvv

A

new Alpha Tau Omega house. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he Phi Mu sorority moved into its current chapter house in 1966. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he Kappa Sigma fraternity dedicated its current chapter house at Homecoming in 1963 and occupied it in February 1964. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

A

fter its chapter house burned in 1966, Delta Psi built its current house, occupied in October 1967. (Angelia) vvvvvvvvvvvv

368

Buildings and Monuments A

lpha xi Delta established a chapter on the campus in 1972. The sorority rented the east wing of Barnard Observatory after Chancellor Fortune and family moved to the Carrier House. (Angelia) vvvvvvvvvvvv

A

nother was home to Delta Sigma Theta. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

Z

eta Phi Beta’s university chapter was organized in 1976.

The sorority occupied a previous faculty house on Sorority Row for a short time. In 2006 Phi Beta Sigma occupied the house. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

K

appa Alpha’s new house was occupied in the fall of 1972.

A new road, west of Guyton Hall, was created for the new two-story colonial building. (Angelia) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he Delta Gammas dedicated their current chapter house on September 25, 1977. (Angelia) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he Alpha Delta Pi sorority razed its house (previously owned by Chi Omega) and built a new one, occupied in spring 1972. (Angelia) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he Kappa Alpha Thetas, whose university chapter was chartered in 1979, lived in Brown dormitory until their chapter house on Rebel Drive was completed in the spring of 1980. (Angelia) vvvvvvvvvvvv

A

previous faculty house on Sorority Row was home to Alpha Kappa Alpha. (ASC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

369

The University of Mississippi

U

nfortunately Alpha Tau Omega’s house pictured here burned in August 2004, causing the death of three student members. (Angelia) vvvvvvvvvvvv

P

hi Delta Theta built a new chapter house in 1961. The house burned in July 1996. After the house burned, the fraternity built a new house at the same site; it was completed in 1999. (Angelia; GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he Phi Kappa Tau fraternity occupied its current chapter house on Fraternity Row in the mid 1980s. (Angelia) vvvvvvvvvvvv

A

pproximately two years after the tragic fire which killed Howard Hillhouse Stone, William Moore Townsend, and Jordan Lowell Williams on August 27, 2004, the Alpha Tau Omegas moved into their new chapter house. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he Sigma Alpha Epsilons moved into their current chapter house in 1989. (Angelia) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he Chi Omega sorority, whose house is the closest to the entrance gates, funded the construction of entrance gates to the campus where Rebel Drive intersects with Jackson Avenue. The gates commemorate the founding of the Chi Omega chapter at the university in 1899. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

T

he Delta Delta Delta chapter house has been expanded considerably during the years. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

he Delta Delta Delta gift to the university, as the Tri Delts celebrated their one hundredth year on the campus, is a labyrinth and walkway, with perimeter seating, near the Union, Bryant Hall, and Fulton Chapel. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

370

Buildings and Monuments T L he

iBrary

T

he first part of the J.D. Williams library was constructed in 1951. The new library contained a basement and two floors, plus additional mezzanine floors. Government documents and the reading reserve books were in the basement. The main floor contained the card catalogue, the reference department, a browsing room, the periodicals room, and microfilm. On the second floor were the Mississippi Room, the Garner Library, the Pat Harrison room, a faculty lounge, typing rooms, seminar rooms, and administrative offices. (ASC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he new library had thirty-seven studies for faculty members and almost a hundred carrels for graduate students. It was the first building on the campus to cost over $1 million and the first to be air-conditioned. (ASC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

371

The University of Mississippi R

eproductions of printers’ marks adorn the panes of glass and stairwell at the entrance to the library. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he back of the library was close to the Grill patio. (ASC) vvvvvvvvvvvv

I

n May 1969 work began on an expansion of the library. Over 30,000 feet were added at the west end of the building, with a sunken court and fountain at that entrance. The class gift from the class of 1969 was an inscription of part of William Faulkner’s Nobel Prize speech on the building. (After another expansion, the words are now inside the library.) (IS) vvvvvvvvvvvv

O

n August 20, 1991, it became possible for students searching for library books to use computers instead of the card catalog. vvvvvvvvvvvv

372

Buildings and Monuments

A

groundbreaking ceremony for an addition to the library and renovation of the existing building was held on November 14, 1992. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

A

statue, done by Ronald Bartlett, of E. H. Patterson in the Williams Library (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he addition to the library proceeds. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he Charles E. Noyes Graduate Student Reading Area in the Williams Library was dedicated on September 29, 2004. The portrait is by one of his former students, Miriam Weems. (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he new entrance (west) to the library (IS; GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

A

coffee shop in the library where the browsing room used to be (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

373

The University of Mississippi

T S he

T

he west side of a new football stadium (an earlier one was built in 1914), supported partly by the WPA, was completed in 1938 with WPA labor and money. Later a duplicate was built for the east section, giving a total seating capacity of twenty thousand if chairs were set up in the end zones. It contained booths for radio announcers, an enlarged press box, restrooms, and telephone connections. The stadium, named in memory of Judge William Hemingway, has been extended on a number of occasions. After additions in 1948 and 1949 the capacity was 34,500. The stadium in 1943 is pictured above. (Mrs. Will Lewis, Sr.) vvvvvvvvvvvv

T

he university football stadium and playing field saw numerous changes during the last decades of the twentieth century. Astroturf was installed in 1970; fiber glass seating was added in 1971 and 1973; aluminum bleachers were installed in the end zones in 1980 (that addition brought the total seats to forty-one thousand); a new club level section for seven hundred people, a new press box, aluminum sideline seating, and concession stands were added in 1988; lights were added in 1990. (IS) vvvvvvvvvvvv

374

tadiuM

Buildings and Monuments

I

n 1998 the Guy C. Billups Rebel Club Seating area was completed—with open-air seats under a roof and access to what may be the largest skybox in the nation. The addition brought seating capacity to over fifty thousand. (GW, IS) vvvvvvvvvvvv

I

n 2002 a $25 million stadium renovation and south end zone expansion were completed, adding skyboxes and additional seating and bringing seating capacity to approximately sixtyone thousand. (GW; IS) vvvvvvvvvvvv

375

The University of Mississippi

O

xford

L

ife

T

he Mistilis Restaurant on Jackson Avenue in the 1950s (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

S

ome views of the Oxford square and the jail in 1949 (Museum: Mullens/White) vvvvvvvvvvvv

S

yd and Harry’s (now City Grocery) was a popular restaurant. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

376

Buildings and Monuments

L

ake Patsy (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

A

new mall brought a new movie theater to Oxford. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

O

T

A

T

xford is blessed by the presence of Square Books. (IS) vvvvvvvvvvvv

he Old Venice and City Grocery balconies in spring 2006 (GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

visit to the thriving village at Taylor—good art, food (especially catfish), and music. And if you can find space, write your name on the wall. (OM) vvvvvvvvvvvv

he first roundabout in the Oxford area, only the eighth in Mississippi, connects Old Taylor Road with Gertrude Ford Drive. Kappa Delta helped to fund the entry gate.

(GW) vvvvvvvvvvvv

377

Alumni Hall of Fame

GerAld AbdAllA

reuben Anderson

blAir bAtson

louis brAndt

JoHn Adler

dAvid Arnold

WoodArd becHAM

Henry brevArd

ronnie AGneW

JAMes Autry

bArbArA beckMAnn

rAy broWn

MicHAel Aiken

vernA bAiley

PHil berry

Alton bryAnt

FrAnk Anderson

JAMes bArksdAle

JoHn brAdeMAs

HArold burson

378

Alumni Hall of Fame

JAMes butler

tHoMAs clArk

cHArles conerly

victor coulter

cHArlotte cAPers

HuGH clAyton

WAllAce conerly

FrAnk crostHWAit

edGAr cAPles

JAMes coleMAn

MAx cooPer

cHester curtis

JosePH cerny

AuGustus collins

GeorGe cossAr

JAMes dArnell

cHArles clArk

MAry M. collins

dAvid cottrell

stAcy dAvidson

379

Alumni Hall of Fame

FrAnk dAy

MArk etHridGe

robert FArley

Porter Fortune

bill dunlAP

tHoMAs etHridGe

JAn FArrinGton

ron FrAnklin

brAd dye

FrAnk everett

WilliAM FAulkner

Henry FrAzer

JAMes eAstlAnd

terry eWert

rose Flenorl

tHoMAs Frist

robert elliott

cHArles FAir

roGer Flynt

edWArd Fritts

380

Alumni Hall of Fame

WilliAM GAltney

PAul GrAy

JAMes HArdy

PAul Hester

evelyn GAndy

WilliAM GresHAM

JAMes HArdy

GeorGe HeWes

GeorGe GArrett

ArtHur Guyton

sAM HAskell

Will HickMAn

Fred GlAss

dAvid Guyton

JosePHine HAxton

edWArd Hill

HArdy GrAHAM

robert Guyton

GeorGe HeAly

GerAld HollinGsWortH

381

Alumni Hall of Fame

verner HolMes

bernice Hussey

editH kelly-Green

Julius levine

briGGs HoPson

JiM inGrAM

GeorGe kiMMons

A. b. leWis

beckett HoWortH

sArAH isoM

FrAnk kinArd

Hunter little

lucy HoWortH

GirAult Jones

MAry lynn kotz

cHArles locke

AlFred HuMe

dAn JordAn

Henry lAWs

Wilson lyon

382

Alumni Hall of Fame

ArcHie MAnninG

tHoMAs MccrAW

GeorGe McleAn

luciAn Minor

eMMett MArston

Myres McdouGAl

HoWArd McMillAn

PAul Moore

lArry MArtindAle

JAMes McdoWell

PAtrick McnArny

HArvey Morrison

H. e MccArty

sAMuel McilWAin

rAcHel McPHerson

PAul Murrill

JAMes Mcclure

AnnA k. McleAn

cArole lynn MeAdoWs

sHerMAn MutHs

383

Alumni Hall of Fame

norMAn nelson

Henry PAris

JAMes rosser

luciAn sMitH

cHArles noyes

Aubrey PAtterson

otis sAnFord

otHo sMitH

cHArles overby

GAil PittMAn

lyndA M. sHeA

PAtrick sMitH

JoHn PAlMer

lenore PrAtHer

JAMes sHerrArd

lArry sPeAkes

dAvid PAnkrAtz

tAlly riddell

Fred sMitH

MicHAel stArnes

384

Alumni Hall of Fame

GeorGe street

clAude vArner

“ben” WilliAMs

cliFF WorsHAM

louis sulFA

JoHn vAuGHt

J. d. WilliAMs

WilliAM yAtes

tHoMAs sWAyze

JoHn WAde

PArHAM WilliAMs

FAser triPlett

JAMie WHitten

bAxter Wilson

nAncy vAn de vAte

dAn WilFord

WilliAM Winter

385

Outstanding Teachers of the Year

GutHrie Abbott lAW 1986

Miklos bencze Music 1971

ron dAle Art 2002

lAurdellA Foulkes-levy Music 2006

FrAnk Anderson cHeMicAl enGineerinG 1967

Joel blAss lAW 1969

JAMes dAvis AccountAncy 1985

FAye Gilbert MArketinG 2000

billy bArrios PsycHoloGy 1995

ron borne MedicinAl cHeMistry 1972

WilliAM eickHorst GerMAn 1966

vAuGHAn GrisHAM socioloGy 1978

ron bArtlett GerMAn 1983

WilliAM cHAMPion lAW 1982

tonyA FlesHer AccountAncy 2003

Jere HoAr JournAlisM 1974

386

Outstanding Teachers of the Year

c. n. Jones cHeMistry 1976

rAy liebAu Music 1993

PAul oliver econoMics 1973

nAtAlie scHroeder enGlisH 1987

GloriA kelluM coMMunicAtive disorders 1975

PHil MAlone FinAnce 1989

Gene Peery AccountAncy 1968

ron scHroeder enGlisH 2001

colby kullMAn enGlisH 1997

dAniell MAttern cHeMistry 1992

JeAnette PHilliPs HoMe econoMics 1984

Wil st. AMAnd bioloGy 1970

HArvey leWis econoMics 1977

JAMes MenGert enGlisH 1979

dAvid sAnsinG History 1990

WilliAM stAton MAtHeMAtics 1988

387

Outstanding Teachers of the Year

Morris stocks AccountAncy 1998

WAde WAters PHArMAcoloGy 2004

JoHn Winkle PoliticAl science 1980

MAry stuckey PoliticAl science 1999

robert WeeMs lAW 1994

kWAnG yun cHeMistry 1981

kennetH suFkA PsycHoloGy 1996

MArk Wilder AccountAncy 2005

JAMes vAuGHAn MecHAnicAl enGineerinG 1991

dAvid Willson Music 2007

388

Barnard Distinguished Professors

Henry bAss PHysics

JAMes MccHesney PHArMAcoGnosy

Alice clArk PHArMAcoGnosy

WilliAM sHuGHArt econoMics

lAWrence cruM PHysics

Mickey sMitH PHArMAcy AdMinistrAtion

stePHen FoWler PsycHoloGy

JAMes vAuGHAn MecHAnicAl enGineerinG

WintHroP JordAn History

sAM WAnG MecHAnicAl enGineerinG

389

Outstanding Staff Members of the Year

lArry Austin PHysicAl PlAnt 2004

lenzo dennis PHysicAl PlAnt 1996

bobby loGAn PHysicAl PlAnt 2003

tAMer Mosley Food services 1991

brendA brAnnAn Provost’s oFFice 2002

lAMAr GArdner PHysicAl PlAnt 1994

rAyMond loGAn PHysicAl PlAnt 1993

selMA WilliAMs PHysicAl PlAnt 1997

bonnie broWn AcAdeMic AFFAirs 1990

doris HodGe reGistrAr’s oFFice 2007

Jonnie MAnninG inForMAtion tecHnoloGy 2001

JAMes WindHAM PurcHAsinG 1995

onice cArter inForMAtion tecHnoloGy 2000

reGinA JoHnson HuMAn resources 2005

Melvin MceWen PHysicAl PlAnt 1992

tHelMA curry Police dePArtMent 1998

sue keiser cHAncellor’s oFFice 2006

trAci MitcHell student MediA 1999

390

Rhodes Scholars

ricHArd beckett

deAn coPelAnd

l.e. FArley

MArsHAll bouldin

WAlter coPPedGe

WilliAM FinGer

cAlvin broWn

Hector currie

ebb Ford

robert cHildres

bryAn enGlAnd

dAniel GoodGAMe

391

Rhodes Scholars

louis JiGGitts

tHoMAs MAyo

PAul PArisH

JoHn kyle

tHeodore MccArley

JAMes Price

drAne lester

Myres McdouGAl

cAlvin tHiGPen

Wilson lyon

dAMon Moore

Jess Woods

392

Sports Halls of Fame

MeMbers oF botH ole Miss And tHe MississiPPi sPorts HAlls oF FAMe

billy rAy AdAMs

denver brAckeen

bobby cresPino

JiM dunAWAy

WArner AlFord

JoHnny breWer

rolAnd dAle

douG elMore

coolidGe bAll

rAyMond broWn

Wobble dAvidson

cHArlie FloWers

cAlvin bArbour

vAn cHAncellor

eAGle dAy

bobby FrAnklin

doby bArtlinG

cHArley conerly

kAyo dottley

cHArles Gibbon

393

Sports Halls of Fame

JAke Gibbs

lArry GrAntHAM

Junie Hovious

JAMes leAr

kline Gilbert

Glynn GriFFinG

don kessinGer

HArol loFton

JenniFer GilloM

PArker HAll

robert kHAyAt

ArcHie MAnninG

PeGGie GilloM

Gene Hickerson

bruiser kinArd

cAry MiddlecoFF

country GrAHAM

stAn HindMAn

isAAc knox

crAWFord MiMs

394

Sports Halls of Fame

JoHn MontGoMery

billy sAM

JoHn vAuGHt

JAMes PAtton

tAd sMitH

GerAld WAlker

bArney Poole

tHoMAs sWAyze

J. l.Webb

buster Poole

MArvin terrell

H.G. WeddinGton

rAy Poole

Pie vAn

ben WilliAMs

395