The History of the University of Mississippi

Presented by David Sansing, University of Mississippi

Reception and book signing immediately following lecture

Free and open to the public

Thursday, November 16, 2000, 7 p.m. at the Southern Cultural Heritage Complex Auditorium,

Corner of Cherry and Crawford Streets, Downtown Vicksburg

For more information call (601) 631-2997

 

(Vicksburg) Historian David Sansing will explore the history of the University of Mississippi on Thursday, November 16, 2000, at 7:00 p.m. at the Southern Cultural Heritage Complex (SCHC) Auditorium in downtown Vicksburg. 

Dr. Sansing will discuss his book, The University of Mississippi:  A Sesquicentennial History, written to commemorate the university’s 150th anniversary in 1998.  The book is a comprehensive study of the state's oldest institution of higher learning and one of the Deep South's early state universities, covering the history of the university from its conception in 1841 to 1998.  Dr. Sansing will highlight the triumphs and the tragedies of the university, including the great losses during the Civil War and the struggle for racial equality. 

Established as an alternative to sending the sons of the gentry to the north for their collegiate education, the University was located at Oxford in 1841, chartered in 1844, and opened in 1848.  During the administration of Chancellor F. A. P. Barnard, 1856-1861, the University assembled perhaps the finest collection of scientific apparatus in antebellum America and was in the forefront of collegiate reform. After all but four of its students enlisted in the Confederate army, the University closed in the fall of 1861 and remained closed until October 1865. In the closing decades of the nineteenth century the University evolved from a small liberal arts institution with a prescribed classical curriculum into a university with a broad elective curriculum, a college of liberal arts, and several professional schools. During America's civil rights struggle, Ole Miss became a battleground when the federal government sent several thousand troops to Oxford to enforce the admission of James Meredith, the

University's first African American student. During the riot that occurred on September 30, 1962, there were two fatalities, the campus was seriously damaged, and the University's image was tarnished. Since Meredith's graduation in 1963, the University of Mississippi has made remarkable progress in accommodating the ethnic and racial diversity of the constituency it serves.

Dr. David Sansing is a Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Mississippi.  Sansing’s other books include Make Haste Slowly:  The Troubled History of Higher Education in Mississippi, A History of the Mississippi Governor’s Mansion with Carroll Waller, and Mississippi:  A Study of Your State with Ray Skates.

The presentation is part of the Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation’s (SCHF) Humanities Lecture Series, which takes place on the third Thursday of every month. The SCHC Auditorium is located at the corner of Cherry and Crawford Streets in Downtown Vicksburg.  A reception and book signing will immediately follow the lecture. The event is free and open to the public. For more information call (601) 631-2997.