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The U.S. marshals had hidden James Meredith in a different building from the Lyceum. But the white mob in front of the Lyceum did not know that. Thinking that James Meredith was inside the Lyceum, the mob attacked the U.S. marshals on the front porch of the building. The mob hurled rocks, bricks, and bottles at the U.S. marshals. The marshals defended themselves with tear gas.
For an entire night, a full-blown riot raged at
Ole Miss. |
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Throughout the long night of the riot, the lighted clock on top of the Lyceum shined eerily above the white mob and the hard-pressed U.S. marshals. |
| This is the view the U.S. Marshals had of
the riot from the front porch of the Lyceum.
Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett refused to send either state police or the Mississippi National Guard to quell the riot. |
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It soon became clear to President John F. Kennedy that Governor Barnett was not going to end the riot at Ole Miss. President Kennedy ordered U.S. Army troops on to the Ole Miss campus to restore law and order. Shortly thereafter, with U.S. Army soldiers standing by, James Meredith registered and became a student at the University of Mississippi. Photo: Confederate Memorial at Ole Miss. |
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In the fall of 2001, this lamppost banner
welcomed students back to Ole Miss for another academic year.
The student body at the University of Mississippi is fully racially integrated. Ole Miss has large numbers of African-American students and many distinguished African-American alumni. |