Digital Collections Related to Integration of the University of Mississippi in 1962
- Integration of the University of Mississippi
- Ed Meek Collection, University of Mississippi: Integration 1962
- James Meredith Collection
- James W. Silver Collection
- The Ole Miss (Yearbook), 1960-1969
- Open Doors Oral History Collection
- Sidna Brower Mitchell Photographs and Scrapbook
- Western Union Telegram Collection
Teaching Resources for Instructors and Students
For Students
The Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College is offering an honors special topics course, “The University and the State of Mississippi Sixty Years after James Meredith,” taught by Curtis Wilkie, emeritus Overby fellow. In fall 2012, Wilkie co-taught a course called “Opening the Closed Society” where students explored both the history of the State and the university and the impact of Meredith’s integrating the university, as well as the strides the university had made in increasing the diversity of campus. This fall, students will consider some of these same questions 10 years later.
Contact: cwilkie@olemiss.edu
In Fall 2022, Darren Grem from the Departments of History and Southern Studies, will be teaching an honors section of “The South in the Twentieth Century.” The students will actively explore the humanities and inhumanities of life in the autocratic world of the Jim Crow South; how the Great Depression and World War II laid the groundwork for stunning socio-economic change, as well as three decades of a “new civil war” against racial segregation and discrimination, and political and cultural strategizing to undo or retain Jim Crow’s social and economic arrangements. Students will come closer to home with a thorough-going examination of the post-Jim Crow South, a region both departing from race-based autocracy while forging new social, economic, and political orders and expressions.
Contact: jsamonds@olemiss.edu
For Instructors
- Resource Guide: James Meredith, Civil Rights in Mississippi, and the Integration of Higher Education in the United States: A Selected Resource Guide for Students and Teachers
- Library Subject Guides: The Archives and Special Collections has pages on “1962 Integration at UM” and “Civil Rights Commemorations” on its University of Mississippi Subject Guide. Items include descriptions of related manuscript collections, digital collections, photographs, recordings, and publications. Protocols for consulting collection material appear on the Researcher Registration Form.
- Library Research: Instructors who assign students to conduct research that requires access to the UM Libraries Archives and Special Collections are encouraged to contact archivesdept@olemiss.edu with an advance copy of the assignment in order for the archivists to pull the necessary collection items in advance and have them immediately ready for researchers.
- Library Exhibit: UM Libraries will host the exhibit “Paving the Path: James Meredith and the Integration of the University of Mississippi” in the Archives and Special Collections, Sept. 19, 2022 through March 2023. The material on view in the eight cases may provide an opportunity for a classroom writing assignment.
- Academic Travel Courses: UM Study USA is seeking proposals for academic travel courses supporting the 60th anniversary of the integration of the University of Mississippi. Proposals from any academic discipline are welcome, and should connect with the themes of the anniversary – knowledge, courage, opportunity, and perseverance. Courses may take place during winter, May or August Intersessions, any summer term, or during spring term with travel during spring break. Proposals for interdisciplinary classes focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion are encouraged. Recommended due date for proposals is September 9. For more information, contact Kevin Gates at 915-2746 or email studyusa@olemiss.edu.
Additional resources for instructors are under development and will be posted in this section once final.