American Family Association Collection. 1990-2005. Collection consists of publications and circular letters from the Mississippi-based American Family Association, a lobbying organization concerned with homosexuality, conservative family values, the media, liberal ideology, abortion and other conservative religious interests. 2 boxes.
J.P. Coleman Collection. 1965-1985. J.P. Coleman served on the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals from 1965 until 1984. The chamber papers of his case files include the following: Mississippi Gay Alliance, et al. v. Bill Goudelock, et al. which challenged a U.S. District Court ruling that a student newspaper could reject an advertisement (Box 13) and Gay Student Services, et al. v. Texas A. & M. University, et al. which sought review of a U.S. District Court order granting the university's request to dismiss an action seeking damages for denial of official recognition (Box 38). 79 boxes. Note: This collection is stored at an off-site facility and advance notice of boxes requests is required at least two business days before an intended visit.
Hubert Creekmore Collection. 1928-2002. Correspondence, playbills, and programs related to the life and career of Water Valley, Mississippi native Hubert Creekmore (1907-1966), an author, translator, editor, and artist. A closeted homosexual himself, Creekmore's novel The Welcome (1946) considered the problems of southern gay men in dealing with their sexuality. 6 boxes. Further material related to Creekmore is available in the following collections: Mississippi Authors Small Manuscripts (Box 2, Folder "Hubert Creekmore"); Eudora Welty Small Manuscripts (Box 1 and Box 3); and Mississippi Periodicals Collection (Box 2).
James O. Eastland Collection. 1930-1978. James O. Eastland represented Mississippi in the U.S. Senate in 1941 by appointment and then from 1943 to 1978. Series 3, Subseries 1: Issue Correspondence contains files on "Homosexuality" for 1976 and 1977 (Box 107, Folders 43 and 44). In Series 4, Subseries 8: Expenditures in the Executive Department Committee, records dating from 1947 to 1951 include material related to investigations of homosexuality among government employees (1 box). Series 4, Subseries 10: Internal Security Subcommittee contains the records of the subcommittee which Eastland joined in 1951 ad served as chair from 1955 until its abolishment in 1977. The mission of the subcommittee was to study and investigate espionage, sabotage, and the protection of the internal security of the United States. At the time, investigators considered homosexual government employees a possible target of blackmail, and some of these records will reflect these concerns (31 boxes). 1,571 linear feet. Note: This collection is stored at an off-site facility and advance notice of boxes requests is required at least two business days before an intended visit.
Charles Henri Ford Collection. 1989-1996. Charles Henri Ford (1908-2002) was born Charles Henry Ford in Brookhaven, Miss., and later changed the spelling of his middle name. He lived in New York, Paris, and Nepal. Ford was a homosexual and the longtime partner of artist Pavel Tchelitchew. Ford founded the little magazine Blues as a teenager and later served as editor of the Surrealist magazine View in New York City. He published sixteen books of poetry between 1936 and 2001; a novel, The Young and Evil (1933); and a book of nonfiction, Water From A Bucket: A Diary 1948-1957. The collection includes letters and photographs related to Ford's publications during in the late 1980s and 1990s. 1 box. Further material related to Ford appears in the following collections: Evans B. Harrington Collection (Box 7, Folder 4) and Small Manuscripts (Box 1982-2, Folder 6).
Bishop Duncan Montgomery Gray Jr. Collection. 1954-2000. A native Mississippian, Bishop Duncan Grey Jr. served as an Episcopal priest in several communities across the state before his election as Bishop of Mississippi, a post he held from 1974 to 1993. The collection includes seven folders on "Homosexual Issue" whose contents date from 1977 to 1998 and include correspondence, sermons, articles, resolutions, and a pamphlet on homosexuality and the Episcopal Church (Box 11, Folders 7 through 13). Another folder, "Sexuality Study 1987-1993" contains correspondence, reports, and questionnaires regarding sexuality and Christianity as well as a study of homosexuality by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (Box 11, Folder 14). 21 boxes.
Barry Hannah Collection. 1978-1993. The collection contains correspondence and literary manuscripts related to the life and career of noted Mississippi author Barry Hannah. It includes a one-page typed manuscript whose first line reads 'When the queers roll out..." (Box 3, Folder 4). 12 boxes.
Evans Harrington Collection. 1950s-1990s. The papers of University of Mississippi English professor Evans Harrington include some items related to the Mississippi homosexual author Charles Henri Ford (Box 7, Folder 4). It also includes a 1965 letter (Box 4, Folder 4) and a 1976 letter (Box 4, Folder 18) that reference homosexuality. 42 boxes.
Knox Collection of Extremist Literature. 1942-1982. The collection consists largely of various publications of right-wing political and religious organizations and a small amount of material created by left-wing groups. Box 9, Folder 3 contains the undated "Gay Rights: A Libertarian Approach" by Ralph Raico. 12 boxes.
James H. Meredith Collection. 1950-1997. James Meredith integrated the University of Mississippi in 1962. He was active in politics running for public office in several campaigns over the following decades. Collection includes a VHS dated 1991 recording from the Traditional Values Coalition "Sexual Orientation or Sexual Deviation" (Meredith Audiovisual Materials). VHS originally came from "Meredith Subject File "Traditional Values Coalition" (Box 101).
Mississippi Author Small Manuscripts. 1928-2006. Box 2 includes correspondence and other items related to Mississippian Hubert Creekmore who wrote the novel The Welcome (1946) about homosexual men in the South. Box 5 contains several pieces of correspondence and typed manuscripts by Mississippi author Thomas Hal Phillips whose 1950 novel The Bitterweed Path reflected on southern gay men. 9 boxes.
Willie Morris Collection. 1941-1993. Box 25, Folder 7 contains a printed invitation to a Greenwood, Mississippi lecture by Thomas Hal Phillips, author of the 1950 gay novel The Bitterweed Path. 173 boxes.
Oxford American Collection. 1988-2002. The records of the Oxford American include material related to University of Mississippi alumnus, author, and lesbian/bisexual Florence King (1936-2016) who wrote a column for the southern magazine (Box 5, Folder 7; Box 11, Folder 3; Box 21, Folder 15; Box 41, Folders 12 through 17; and Box 72, Folder 14). It also includes a piece on a lost masterpiece by Mississippi homosexual playwright Tennessee Williams (Box 26, Folder 1) and another article by Doug Cumming entitled "Queering the South" (Box 7, Folder 7). 88 boxes.
William Alexander Percy Small Manuscripts. 1922-1969. William Alexander Percy (1885-1942) was a gay lawyer, planter, biographer, and poet from Greenville, Mississippi. The collection consists of correspondence, sheet music, manuscripts, and periodicals. 2 boxes.
Valeria Ross Collection. 1988-2016. Valeria Ross was the University of Mississippi Director of Leadership and Advocacy. Her files include material related to issues of diversity on campus such as LGBTQ issues. 5 boxes.
Sarah Isom Center Collection. 1921-2001. The Sarah Isom Center documents the activities of the Center as a locus for thought and activism related to women's issues at the University of Mississippi from its inception to the present. Box 78 contains material on the subject of "Homosexuality -- National Gay Task Force." 107 boxes.
Small Manuscripts. Box 1982-2, Folder 6 contains photocopies of two letters: a typed letter dated 16 January 1943 from Eudora Welty to the gay Mississippi author Charles Henri Ford, and a 31 January 1943 letter from Ford to Joseph Cornell.
Orma R. Smith Collection. 1966-1981. Judge Orma R. Smith served on the U.S. District Court of Northern Mississippi from 1968 until 1982. His chamber papers of case files include the following: Holliman v. Watkins et al regarding a civil rights complaint concerning discrimination against an admittedly homosexual inmate of Mississippi State Penitentiary (Box 40, Folder 16); and Lollobrigida B.B. v. John C. Watkins et al for withholding of estrogen treatment from a transsexual person in the Mississippi State Penitentiary (Box 44, Folder 43). 51 boxes. Note: This collection is stored at an off-site facility and advance notice of boxes requests is required at least two business days before an intended visit.
Jamie Whitten Collection. A Democrat, Jamie Whitten represented his Mississippi district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1941 to 1995 and chaired the powerful Committee on Appropriations from 1979 through 1992. Series 30: Legislation, Box 91 includes four folders on "Military -- Homosexuals" dating from 1993-1994. Series 35: Subject Files, Box 83 contains Folder "Military -- Homosexuality -- 1994." Series 35: Subject Files, Box 6 includes folders on "Gay Rights" dating from 1977 to 1993. This collection is stored at an off-site facility and advance notice of boxes requests is required at least two business days before an intended visit.
Tennessee Williams Small Manuscripts. 1932-2005. This collection consists of correspondence, play scripts, galleys, pressbooks, and programs related to the literary career of famed Mississippi author and homosexual Tennessee Williams (1911-1985). 6 boxes. For additional collections which contain material related to Tennessee Williams, see the following collections: Tennessee Williams Periodicals Collection (1 box); Bouchard Collection (Special Collections Map Case Drawer 1, Folders 7 & 19); Sidney Graves Collection (Graves was instrumental in the formation of the Tennessee Williams Festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi); Hubert Creekmore Collection (Box 6, Folders 15 and 23); Curtis Wilkie Collection (Box 6, Folder 12); Oxford American Collection (Box 26, Folder 1), Mamie and Ellis Nassour Arts and Entertainment Collection (Box 55, Folder 1 and Box 58, Folder 2); and Evans B. Harrington Collection (Box 7, Folder 15).
University Archives Video Collection. Series 15: 1994 Faulkner Conference includes a BetacamSP (UAV_1038) and an audiocassette (UAV_1114) recordings of the conference session "Faulkner's Crying Game: Male Homosexual Panic." 1,800 items.
Vertical Files. 1950s-1990s. Includes clippings folder "Lesbians" and "Playwright -- Mart Crowley" (Mississippi author).
Violet Valley Bookstore Collection. 2017-2020. Established in 2017, the Violet Valley Bookstore in Water Valley is Mississippi's only queer, feminist, transinclusive bookstore. The collection includes news articles, correspondence, and promotional material. 3 boxes and 1 flag.
Stark Young/John Pilkington Collection. 1917-1986. Materials accrued by John Pilkington in preparation of his books Stark Young and Stark Young, A Life in the Arts: Letters 1900-1962. A homosexual, Stark Young was a noted author, playwright, and theater critic from Como, Mississippi. 92 boxes. 92 boxes. Further material related to Stark Young is available in the following collections: Stark Young Small Manuscripts (1 box); Stark Young Periodicals Collection (2 boxes); Stark Young Centennial Collection (1 box; unprocessed); Stark Young/Pauline and Mary Goldmann Collection (2 boxes); Stark Young/Ella Somerville Collection (1 box); Stark Young/A.E. Nelson Collection (4 boxes; unprocessed); Stark Young/J.B. Robinson Collection (28 boxes; unprocessed); Stark Young/Sir John Huxley Collection (2 boxes; unprocessed); Robert Penn Warren/Bill Ferris Collection (Box 1, Folder 3); Cassette Tape and Reel Collection (Box 4); Annie McGehee Collection (Box 2, Folder 5); Katallagette/James Y. Holloway Collection (Box 8, Folder "Robert Penn Warren Correspondence"); Louis Dollarhide Collection (Box 2, Folder "Stark Young"); Sherwood Bonner/Hubert McAlexander Collection (Box 2, Folder 15); Small Manuscripts (Box 1995-2, Folder 12; SMMSS Lobby Cards, Movie Stills, and Pressbooks Box 1, Folder 10); John Wesley Johnson Collection (Box 6, Folder 1); Chancellor's Collection/ Porter L. Fortune (Box 145, Folder 19); and Evans Harrington Collection (Box 3, Folder 23 and Box 8, Folder 17).
The DJ "Prince" Charles Smith Collection consists of 864 vinyl dance records that provided the soundtrack for queer life in North Mississippi during the 1980s and 1990s. Smith spun records as the DJ at several Mississippi gay bars in Palmetto, Columbus, and Shannon, but was most associated with the club Rumors in Shannon, Mississippi which was featured in the 2006 film "Small Town Gay Bar."
To identify the contents of the collection, go to the library catalog and type "DJ Prince Charles Smith Collection" as a keyword search.
Items from this collection were the subject of a 2021 library exhibit. A pdf link on the exhibit page will provide additional information about the collection.
