OXFORD, Miss. \u2013 A unique and diverse exhibition of historic artifacts at the University of Mississippi will have its official opening April 25 in the J.D. Williams Library.<\/p>\n
“Preserving Our Past: Highlights from Archives & Special Collections” features treasures kept in the library’s Department of Archives & Special Collections. Charles Wilson, Cook Chair of History and professor of Southern studies, will speak on “Mississippi Religion and Social Change: Duncan Gray and Religious Currents in the Civil Rights Era” to commemorate the event. The program begins at 5 p.m. in the Faulkner Room and is free and open to the public.<\/p>\n
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“This exhibition has a little something for everyone,” said Jennifer Ford, head of Archives and Special Collections and associate professor. “We welcome all visitors to this opening on the third floor of library for this occasion.”<\/p>\n
Included in the exhibition are rare 78-rpm recordings by bluesman Robert Johnson and baseballs signed by pro legends Ty Cobb, Ted Williams and “Fishbait” Miller. The letters of Belle Edmondson, a female Confederate spy, and literary cases devoted to William Faulkner, Ellen Douglas, Larry Brown, Barry Hannah and Willie Morris are also in the display.<\/p>\n
“We are excited that Dr. Wilson is speaking on Duncan Gray Jr. in his presentation, as Bishop Gray also has a case in the exhibit,” Ford said.<\/p>\n
Wilson said he is honored to address the public at the opening.<\/p>\n
“As one who has both known and studied Duncan Gray and his involvement in the civil rights movement, I wish to shed light upon both the man himself and that turbulent era,” he said. “I believe my insights will prove of interest to both the devoted historian and the casual observer.”<\/p>\n
Gray, former pastor at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Oxford, was instrumental in civil rights issues in Mississippi. The night of the 1962 riot on campus, he went out \u2013 at great personal risk to himself \u2013 and encouraged rioters to go home.<\/p>\n
For questions or more information, contact Jennifer Ford at 662-915-7639 or jwford@olemiss.edu.<\/p>\n
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