‘Gatherings Before the Grove’ series begins Sept. 18
OXFORD, Miss. – The Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics
at the University of Mississippi is sponsoring a special series of
programs this fall on Friday afternoons before home football games.
The “Gatherings Before the Grove” series will cover a range of topics
from current politics and news to a 50th anniversary look back at the
fabled 1959 Ole Miss football team and a new book chronicling the 1962
integration crisis at the university.
“We’re excited about
our lineup, and we hope to attract a lot of student interest as well as
alumni back in town for football weekends,” said Charles Overby, CEO
and president of the Freedom Forum, which founded the center.
Each program is set for the Overby Center Auditorium overlooking
the Grove at 5 p.m. Fridays. All events are free and open to the
public and will be followed by receptions.
The series begins Sept. 18 with a conversation with Charles
Eagles, the university’s William Winter Professor of History and author
of “The Price of Defiance: James Meredith and the Integration of Ole
Miss” (University of North Carolina Press, 2009). The book, which was
published in August, is being hailed as the definitive work on the
controversy that engulfed the school and the state.
Overby Fellow Curtis Wilkie, who was a student at Ole Miss at
the time, will serve as moderator for the talk with Eagles and other
presenters on the fall schedule.
Other programs in the series are as follows:
Oct. 9 – Howell Raines, former executive editor of The New York
Times, discusses the economic threat to American newspapers.
Oct. 16 – Shepard Smith, Fox News anchor and Ole Miss alumnus, discusses his high-profile role at the network.
Oct. 23 – Members of the 1959 Rebels football team – named SEC
“team of the decade” – will talk about their memorable season when
Ole
Miss gave up only 21 points and wound up No. 2 in national polls.
Nov. 13 – Ole Miss graduates Ronnie Agnew, executive editor of
The Clarion-Ledger, and Otis Sanford, editorial page editor of The
Commercial Appeal, will reflect on their newspapers’ criticism that
helped drive the mayors of Jackson and Memphis from office earlier this
year.
Nov. 20 – A panel observes what would have been the late Willie
Morris’ 75th birthday with a discussion of how the innovative
Mississippi native turned Harper’s into the country’s hottest magazine
and changed American magazines forever.
For more information on programs at the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics, go to http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/