Below is a selective list of the most relevant collections on the 1962 integration at the University of Mississippi. Additional context may be uncovered by exploring further manuscript collections listed on the University of Mississippi Subject Guide Manuscript page whose time spans encompass 1962. To consult resources on earlier civil rights commemorative activities at the University of Mississippi, examine the University of Mississippi Subject Guide UM Civil Rights Commemorations page.
American Association of University Professors (AAUP) Collection. 1949-1990. Membership, business reports, and other material related to the UM chapter of the AAUP. Boxes 3 and 4 contain files on the University of Mississippi AAUW chapter from 1962, including Box 6, Folder 15 "The University of Mississippi and the Meredith Case, 1962." 7 boxes.
Russell H. Barrett Collection. 1956-1974. A political science professor at UM from 1954 to 1976, Barrett was the author of Integration at Ole Miss (1965), and his collection consists primarily of documents, correspondence,clippings, and photographs relating to the 1962 riot and race relations on campus during the early 1970s. 12 boxes. Photographs from this collection are available online as part of the Integration of the University of Mississippi digital collection.
Chancellors Collection/John D. Williams. University of Mississippi chancellor from 1946 to 1968. Box 6 includes Miscellaneous Correspondence folders from 1962 and Spring 1963. Boxes 11 and 12 holds folders with speeches from 1962 and 1963. Box 15, Folder 8 contains the pamphlet "The Oxford Disaster...Price of Defiance" (1962) by Karl Wiesenburg. Box 16, Folder 8 "The University of Mississippi and the Meredith Case 1962." 34 boxes.
Claude F. Clayton Collection. 1934-1969. During the 1962 integration of the University of Mississippi, Claude F. Clayton served as a judge on the U.S. District Court of Northern Mississippi and also as commanding officer of the 31st Infantry Division. He received an official release from military duty in anticipation of avoiding conflict of interest in presiding over trials arising from the conflict (see Box 10, Folder 10 Ledbetter v. USA; Box 11, Folder 8 McCauley v. USA; and Box 13, Folder 7 Nichols v. USA). Box 26, Folders 13, 14 and 15 hold "Crackpot" correspondence (labeled per the judge's staff) with letters from the general public on James Meredith, the university, and segregation in general. 44 boxes.
Cleveland/Wilson Collection. 1962-1964. Collection consists of correspondence received by UM Associated Student Body presidents Thomas Cleveland and Richard Wilson received in reaction to the integration of UM. 4 boxes.
Deputy U.S. Marshals 50th Anniversary Memory Book. 1962-2012. Reproductions of documents related to the 1962 integration of the University of Mississippi and later commemorations of that event. 1 box.
Ann Rogers Dillard Collection. 1951-1962. A UM student in 1962, Rogers collected newspaper clippings and periodicals related to UM integration. 1 box.
William Doyle Collection. 1865-2001. William Doyle is the author of American Insurrection: James Meredith and the Battle of Oxford, Mississippi, 1962, an account of James Meredith's journey to integrate the University of Mississippi. The collection contains interviews, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and research materials gathered and used by Doyle in the writing of his work. 9 boxes.
James O. Eastland Collection. 1930-1978. James O. Eastland represented Mississippi in the U.S. Senate in 1941 and from 1943 to 1978. Collection contains material related to the integration of UM in 1962 as well as records of the University of Mississippi's relationship with the senator and the federal government (particularly in File Series 3, Subseries 4). 1,571 linear feet. Note: This collection is stored at an off-site facility. Researchers interested in consulting this collection must contact the Archives & Special Collections at least two business days in advance of their planned visit to request the transfer of boxes. A small portion of the Eastland Collection (recordings, a portion of the photographs, and White House Correspondence) are available as a digital collection.
W. Ralph Eubanks Collection. 1990-2009. A noted author, editor, journalist, and professor, W. Ralph Eubanks is an African American who graduated from the University of Mississippi with an undergraduate degree in 1978 and a master's degree in 1979. In 1987, he wrote "Ole Miss is Still Torn 25 Years after Meredith" for the Washington Post (Box 1, Folder 12) as well as other articles about James Meredith and the university (Box 1, Folders 26 and 29; Box 2, Folders 14, 15, and 19). 6 boxes.
Frank E. Everett Collection. 1962-1996. Frank E. Everett received his bachelor's degree from UM in 1932 and his law degree in 1934. While at UM, students voted his Colonel Rebel and president of the student body. Later he served as president of the Ole Miss Alumni Association and became a member of the Ole Miss Hall of Fame. Includes a photocopy of a typed document with a chronology of events dating from 27 July through 6 October 1962 surrounding the enrollment of James Meredith at the University of Mississippi along with a list of the members of the Board of Trustees, State Institutions of Higher Learning" (1962). 2 boxes.
Henry Gallagher Collection. 1962-2001. Second Lieutenant Henry Gallagher of the U.S. Army 716th Military Police Battalion arrived on the UM campus on the night of the 1962 riot. He later served as principal security officer for James Meredith from October 1 through late November 1962, returning again to Oxford in 1963. Includes correspondence, documents, maps, photographs, and film. 3 boxes.
Bishop Duncan Montgomery Gray Jr. Collection. 1954-2000. Duncan Gray was rector of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Oxford in the fall of 1962 and spoke out against anger and violence in sermons and even attempted to calm the crowd on campus on the night of September 30th. Box 1, Folders 6 through 33 contain correspondence, speeches and other material about the integration crisis dating from 1962 to 1963. 21 boxes.
Margaret Countiss Harbison Collection. 1958-1964. Material related to the integration of the university includes a tear canister from the riot as well as media coverage. 2 boxes.
Evans B. Harrington Collection. 1950s-1990s. Evans P. Harrington was an English professor at the University of Mississippi who publicly supported integration. His correspondence from 1962 and into the 1980s discusses the events on campus and later recollections and interactions with James Meredith. 42 boxes.
Raymond L. Harshman Collection. 1962. A 1958 alumnus of the University of Mississippi, Raymond L. Harshman was one of the Deputy Marshals injured during the integration riot in 1962. Collection consists two letters of gratitude Harshman received from President John F. Kennedy and U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
Robert H. Herring III Scrapbooks. 1962. Scrapbooks of clippings maintained by Robert H. Herring III during the integration of UM. 1 box. Available online as part of the Integration of the University of Mississippi digital collection.
Verner S. Holmes Collection. 1910s-1989. Holmes served on the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning from 1956 to 1980, and twice served as its president. The collection contains personal correspondence, clippings, a complete set of board minutes during his tenure, subject files, scrapbooks, and a number of oral histories conducted by David G. Sansing with Holmes and other board members regarding integration of higher education in Mississippi. 15 boxes.
Alan P. Lampson Collection. 1962. Typed letter from U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to federalized border agent Joseph G.N Chenette who was wounded during the riot at the University of Mississippi. 1 box.
Will Lewis Sr. Collection. Includes clippings, periodicals, correspondence, and other materials concerning the 1962 UM integration. 6 boxes.
Dean L.L. Love Collection. 1962-1963. L.L. Love served as University of Mississippi Dean of Students during the 1962 integration crisis. Collection contains correspondence and printed material related to James Meredith's entrance to UM (1 box).
C.L. Marquette Collection. C.L. Marquette taught history at the University of Mississippi from 1946 to 1972. The collection contains correspondence, clippings, photographs and other material related his tenure at UM, including daily journals from 1942 to 2004. Marquette's American History course was the first class James Meredith attended at the University of Mississippi. 15 boxes.
James H. Meredith Collection. 1950-1997. Personal papers of the first African American to register at the University of Mississippi. Includes materials related to Meredith's enrollment and attendance at UM,as well as items about his military service, family, later civil rights activities, and professional endeavors. 146 boxes. Selected 1962-1963 correspondence from this collection are available online as a digital collection.
James Meredith Small Manuscripts. 1962-2008. Material related to the 1962 admission of the first African-American to UM. 12 boxes.
Bill Miles Collection. 1962-2011. Bill Miles graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1959. As a young journalist stringer for outside newspapers, he covered the 1962 integration as well as Meredith's graduation in 1963. The collection includes his photographs of these events as well as copies of his articles. 7 boxes. Photographs from the collection are available online as a digital collection.
Mississippi Highway Patrol Collection. 1962. Collection consists of photographs taken by the Mississippi Highway Patrol of events surrounding the integration of the University of Mississippi. 1 box. This collection has been digitized as part of the Integration of the University of Mississippi digital collection.
Sidna Brower Mitchell Collection. 1959-2003. Sidna Brower served as editor of the campus newspaper The Mississippian during the 1962 integration of the University of Mississippi. Contains letters, photographs, newspapers, and other printed material. 10 boxes. The photographs and a scrapbook are available online as a digital collection.
Open Doors Collection. 1962-2003. Contains oral histories from participants in the 1962 integration crisis at the University of Mississippi, as well as original material from 1962 (1 box and recordings). Available online as a digital collection.
Mrs. R.E. Price Collection. 1859-1973. Includes three October 1962 newspaper clippings from the Manchester, England Guardian Weekly on the integration of the university. 3 boxes.
Race Relations Collection. 1885-2004. Boxes 1, 6, and 7 contain items related to race relations at Oxford and the University of Mississippi including several items on integration in 1962. 8 boxes.
William E. Ready Collection. 1962. One newspaper clipping and two letters of appreciation by President John F. Kennedy and U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to U.S. Marshal Ernest S. Mike, who was wounded at the University of Mississippi riot in 1962. 1 box. Note: This collection is stored at an off-site facility. Researchers interested in consulting this collection must contact the Archives & Special Collections at least two business days in advance of their planned visit to request the transfer of boxes.
David G. Sansing Collection. 1840-1999. David G. Sansing is the author of The University of Mississippi: A Sesquicentennial History (1999). The collections contains his research files for the book. 15 boxes.
James W. Silver Collection. 1935-1986. A history professor at the University of Mississippi in 1962, James Silver wrote Mississippi: The Closed Society (1964) which in part describes its integration as well as the larger segregationist environment of the state during that period. Collection includes manuscripts, correspondence, clippings, cassette tapes, documents, and ephemera. 50 boxes. Selections of the collection, including correspondence, clippings, and pamphlets documenting Silver's support for ending segregation are available online as a digital collection.
Reverend Wofford K. Smith Collection. 1962-1964. UM chaplain during the integration crisis of 1962. Collection consists of items related to his professional duties as well as the integration of UM. 4 boxes.
George M. Street Collection. 1941-1985. Street received Bachelor of Arts and a Judicial Doctorate from the University of Mississippi and worked for the institution from 1949 to 1985 at the following posts: Supervisor of Student Housing, Director of Social Affairs, Assistant Dean of Men, Director of Placement and Financial Aids, Director of Development, and Director of University Relations. The collection contains correspondence, tapes, and other material related to Street's university career as well as the Meredith crisis, Robert F. Kennedy's UM speech, and civil rights in general. 28 boxes.
William Strickland Collection. 1940-1981. Includes an audio interview with James Meredith conducted by University of Mississippi History professor James W. Silver and a transcript of the interview (Box 1, Folder 1). 3 boxes.
Clark Hairston Taylor Collection. 1962-1963. Emma Clark Hairston was a student leader at UM in 1962 and graduated in 1963. The collection contains correspondence, periodicals, and campus newspapers related to the integration of UM. 2 boxes.
Lucy Turnbull Collection. 1962-1970. A Classics professor, Lucy Turnbull joined the faculty of the University of Mississippi in 1961 and spoke out in favor of racial integration. A member of several socially progressive organizations, the collection includes correspondence, publications, and documents regarding race relations at the University of Mississippi and Oxford. 2 boxes.
Vertical File Folders Collection. 1900s-2000. Newspaper clippings organized by Mississippi subjects, including "James Meredith" and "University of Mississippi -- Integration" (3 folders).
Vice-Chancellor Collection. 1946-1976. Records kept by University of Mississippi vice-chancellors, including Box 32, Folder 5 "Meredith Case (James H.)." 46 boxes.
Gerald Walton Collection. 1840s-2000s. Research files created by Gerald Walton for his 2008 book The University of Mississippi: A Pictorial History. Box 7 contains five folders on "Meredith and Integration." 9 boxes.
Western Union Telegram Collection. August-October 1962. Collection contains telegrams transmitted through the Oxford office during the 1962 integration crisis at the University of Mississippi. 5 boxes. A selection of items from this collection are available online as a digital collection.
Murphey Wilds Collection. 1962-1963. Correspondence, news clippings, and ephemera collected by Rev. Murphey Wilds, a Presbyterian minister. Largely related to the 1962 riot at the University of Mississippi and his "Day of Repentance" sermon on 7 October 1962 encouraging Mississippians to speak out against violence. 2 boxes.
Curtis Wilkie Collection. Curtis Wilkie graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1963 and went on to a distinguished career in journalism, covering the ongoing civil rights movement at the Clarksdale Press Register before joining the staff of the Boston Globe. His books include Dixie: A Personal Odyssey Through Events that Shaped the Modern South (2001). Box 1, Folder 4 contains a 1962 letter and handmade map detailing the 1962 riot at the University of Mississippi. Box 8, Folder 22 contains Boston Globe research material on James Meredith. 19 boxes.
For additional primary source publications on the events of 1962, consult the list of cataloged student publications, university reports and newsletters, budgets, and other printed information provided on the University of Mississippi Subject Guide Serial Publications page.
Joseph Banco. Honor First: The Unsung Heroes of Oxford (2021). The role of the U.S. Border Patrol in supporting the U.S. Marshals at the University of Mississippi in 1962. Call Number: LD3413 B363 2021.
William Henry Barbour Jr. The Crisis at the University of Mississippi and Its Effects (Princeton University; B.A. thesis, 1963). Call Number: E185.61 B229 1963.
Russell H. Barrett. Integration at Ole Miss (Quadrangle Books, 1965). Author was a University of Mississippi Political Science professor. Call Number: E185.61 B3.
Nadine Cohodas. The Band Played Dixie: Race and the Liberal Conscience at Ole Miss (New York: Free Press, 1997). Call Number: LD3413 C65 1997.
William Doyle. An American Insurrection: The Battle of Oxford, Mississippi, 1962 (New York: Doubleday, 2001). Call Number: LD3413 D69 2001.
Charles W. Eagles. The Price of Defiance: James Meredith and the Integration of Ole Miss (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2009. Call Number: LD3413 E24 2009.
Henry T. Gallagher. James Meredith and the Old Miss Riot: A Soldier's Story (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2012). Call Number: LD3413 G35 2012.
Burke Marshall. Address by Burke Marshall, Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice, to Yale Law School Association of Washington, D.C. on November 20, 1962 (1962). Burke addressed the topic of the integration riot at the University of Mississippi. Call Number: E185.61 M35.
Meredith Coleman McGee. James Meredith: Warrior and the America that Created Him (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2013). Call Number: LD3412.9 M38 2013.
James Meredith. J.H. Is Born (Jackson, MS: Meredith Pub., 1995). Call Number: F341 M47412 1995.
James Meredith. James Meredith vs. Ole Miss (Jackson, MS: Meredith Pub., 1995). Call Number: F341 M47409 1995.
James Meredith. Letters to My Unborn Grandchildren (Jackson, MS: Meredith Pub., 1995). Call Number: F341 M47407 1995.
James Meredith. "Me and My Kind": An Oral History with James Howard Meredith (Jackson, MS: Meredith Pub., 1995). Interview conducted by Yasuhiro Katagiri. Call Number: F341 M47414 1995.
James Meredith. An Old Man: Thinking of Younger Days (Jackson, MS: Meredith Pub., 1995). Call Number: F341 M47406 1995.
James Meredith. Three Years in Mississippi (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1966). Call Number: LD3412.9 M4 A3.
James Meredith with William Doyle. A Mission from God: A Memoir and Challenge for America (New York: Atria Books, 2012). Call Number: LD3412.9 M47 2012.
The National Broadcasting Company Presents Meet the Press, America's Press Conference of the Air, Produced by Lawrence E. Spivak; Guests: Martin Luther King Jr., Roy Wilkins, Whitney M. Young Jr., Floyd B. McKissick, Stokley Carmichael, James H. Meredith; Special Edition, Sunday, August 21, 1966 (Washington, DC: Merkle Press, 1966). Transcript of broadcast. Call Number: JC599 U5 N32 1966.
Robert S. Roth. Negro Heroes Show the Way (Miami Beach, FL: Scher Publishing Co., 1967). Juvenile literature that includes a section on James Meredith. Call Number: E185.96 R85 1967.
Paul J. Scheips. The Army and the Oxford Troubles, 1962-1963: A Summary (Department of the Army, Office of Military History, 1964). Call Number: LD3413 S328 1964.
James W. Silver. Mississippi: The Closed Society: Presidential Address before the Southern Historical Assoc., Asheville, N.C., Nov. 7, 1963 (1963). Author was a University of Mississippi History professor on the subject of the pervasive climate of segregation within the state and the integration riot in 1962. Call Number: F345 S488.
James W. Silver. Mississippi: The Closed Society (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1964). Call Number: F345 S5.
Dan Smoot. The Mississippi Tragedy (Dallas, TX: Dan Smoot Report Inc., 1962). Integration riot at the University of Mississippi. Call Number: LD3413 S66 1962.
Kathleen Woodfruff Wickham. "Murder in Mississippi: The Unsolved Case of Agence French-Presse's Paul Guilhard" from Journalism History 37:2 (Summer 2011). Call Number: LD3413 W53 2011.
Kathleen Wickham. We Believed We Were Immortal: Twelve Reporters Who Covered the 1962 Integration Crisis at Ole Miss (Oxford, MS: Yoknapatawpha Press, 2017). Call Number: E185.62 W65 2017.
Yearbooks. All editions of the UM yearbook Ole Miss from the first one in 1897 to 2013 as well as an 1861 Classbook.
Integration of the University of Mississippi. Correspondence, newspapers, newsletters, scrapbooks, and photographs documenting James H. Meredith's integration of the University of Mississippi in 1962 and the violent riot that erupted on the night of September 30th.
Ed Meek Collection. Photographs and publications dating from 1962 to 1980s by Ed Meek who worked in UM public relations in various capacities for over thirty-seven years.
James Meredith Collection. Correspondence received by James Meredith in the fall of 1962 from those who supported and those who opposed his efforts to integrate the University of Mississippi.
Bill Miles Collection. Includes photographs of events surrounding the 1962 integration of the University of Mississippi.
Sidna Brower Mitchell Collection. Photographs and a scrapbook from the editor of the UM campus newspaper during the 1962 integration of the university.
Open Doors Collection. Oral histories recorded in 2002 to document the 40th anniversary of UM's integration in 1962 and the experiences of individuals present at the time.
James W. Silver Collection. Selection of items from the physical collection, including news clippings and pamphlets documenting the controversy over University of Mississippi History Professor James Silver's support for ending segregation as well Silver's correspondence with others.
Western Union Telegram Collection. Telegrams sent to and from the Western Union telegram office in Oxford, Mississippi during August-October 1962 when James Meredith enrolled as the first African American at the University of Mississippi.
Russell H. Barrett Collection. 1956-1974. A political science professor at UM from 1954 to 1976, Barrett was the author of Integration at Ole Miss (1965), and his collection consists primarily of documents, correspondence,clippings, and photographs relating to the 1962 riot and race relations on campus during the early 1970s. 12 boxes. Photographs from this collection are available online as part of the Integration of the University of Mississippi digital collection.
William Wert Cooper Jr. Collection. 1962. Photographs of campus during events surrounding integration of UM. Part of Collection Photographs, Box 37. Available online as part of the Integration of the University of Mississippi digital collection.
Ed Meek Collection. 1950s-1980s. In 1962, Ed Meek became a staff writer in the UM public relations office, becoming head of the department two years later. He worked for Um for 37 years as both Assistant Vice Chancellor for Public Relations and Marketing and Associate Professor of Journalism. 3 boxes and 1 oversized portfolio. Photographs that Meek captured during the 1962 integration crisis are available online as a digital collection.
Sidna Brower Mitchell Collection. 1959-2003. Sidna Brower served as editor of the campus newspaper The Mississippian during the 1962 integration of the University of Mississippi. Contains letters, photographs, newspapers, and other printed material. 10 boxes. The photographs and a scrapbook are available online as a digital collection.
Ed Movitz Integration Collection. September-October 1962. Photographs taken for use by various newspapers documenting the 1962 integration of the University of Mississippi. 1 box. Available online as part of the Integration of the University of Mississippi digital collection.
University Archives Photographs. Series 4: People, Box 10, Folder 11 "James Meredith." Note: This collection is stored at an off-site facility and requires advance notice of requests at least two business days prior to an intended visit.
40th Anniversary Symposium and Observance of the Integration of the University of Mississippi (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Multimedia Services, 2003). DVD and VHS recordings. Call Number: LD3413 F67 2003.
Ballad of Ole Miss (Jonesboro, AR: Alley Records, 1962). Song and music about 1962 riot. 45rpm record. Call Number: M1958 M5 B35 1962.
Ghosts of Mississippi (ESPN, 2012). Documentary about the unbeaten 1962 University of Mississippi football team and the integration of their campus. DVD recording. Call Number: LD3413 G467 2012.
Integrating Ole Miss: James Meredith and Beyond (Jackson, MS: MAET, 2012). DVD recording. Call Number: LD3413 I583 2012.
James Meredith Interviews (publisher unknown, circa 1980s). Disc 1: "James Meredith Talks about: Who Is James Meredith and The Black Man's March to the Library." Disc 2: "March against Fear and for Voter Registration, 1966; James Meredith and Ole Miss: Two Perspectives." Disc 3: "A Conversation with James Meredith." Three DVD recordings transferred from original VHS tapes. Call Number: E185.61 J364 2009.
James Meredith Speaks at Ole Miss 1979: White Supremacy and Black Cooperation, an Analysis of the Past, Present and Future Control of Blacks on Mississippi (Oxford, MS: University of Mississippi, 1979). DVD transfer of original VHS tape recording. Call Number: E185.61 J354 2009.
Meredith and Ole Miss: A Pivotal Moment in the Civil Rights Movement (University, MS: Media and Documentary Projects, 2011. Recorded address by University of Mississippi Emeritus Professor of History David G. Sansing at the Archives & Special Collections on the University of Mississippi campus. DVD recording. Call Number: LD3413 M474 2011.
Mission in Mississippi (Los Angeles, CA: Andrew Solt Productions, 1999). Role of U.S. Marshals at the University of Mississippi in 1962. VHS recording. Call Number: HV8144 M7 M57 1999.
Oxford, U.S.A. (Sims Associates, 1963). Documentary defending efforts to prevent integration at the University of Mississippi and to condemn the intrusion of federal forces in 1962 to insure court-ordered registration by James Meredith. Includes interviews with Governor Ross Barnett, Lt, Governor Paul B. Johnson, Attorney General Joe T. Patterson, other state and local officials as well as University of Mississippi students. DVD transfer from a VHS dub of original 16mm film. Call Number: F349 O94 2012.
Rebels: James Meredith & the Integration of Ole Miss (University, MS: Media and Documentary Projects, 2012). DVD recording. Call Number: LD3413 R424 2012.
