Ole Miss

The event at Ole Miss occurred in 1961 and led to the reform of the Ole Miss which if formally known as The University of Mississippi. In the fall of 1962 a riot was formed in Oxford, Mississippi which all started because of James Meredith. James Meredith was an African American who attempting to register to attend the University of Mississippi. The violence evolved because the University of Mississippi was an all-white school. On February 4 1961, Meredith receives a rejection letter from Ole Miss’ admission center. With this, Meredith and NAACP go to the court to fight for equal rights. Meredith gains the support of the federal government, yet Mississippi still denies equal rights to all citizens. Therefore, the court case carried out in 1962 became a fight between federal and state government. Segregationist mobs riot on campus and kill two people while injuring many others. Yet, by the end, this small town was changed forever due to one man, James Meredith. The idea of fighting for change was driving Meredith to continue on through the violence. Since the 1960s was a time of reform with protest, Meredith was able to change the ideal and turn Ole Miss into an equal reality when he attended class in the fall of 1962.

Sources: Meredith graduates from Ole Miss. 2004.History.com. May 27, 2009. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=5272

Integrating Ole Miss. June 2002. John F. Kennedy Library. May 27, 2009. http://www.jfklibrary.org/meredith/home.html