Meredith
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James Meredith, who played a pivotal role in the civil rights movement of the 1960s when he became the first African American admitted to the University of Mississippi, will visit IU Bloomington on May 31-June 1.
Meredith, who recalled his experiences as an Ole Miss student in the book, Three Years in Mississippi (IU Press, 1966), will give a public lecture on Wednesday, June 1, at 11 a.m. in the first-floor auditorium of the IU School of Education, 201 N. Rose St. A reception in the school's lobby will follow.
Meredith also will speak to students in a class earlier that day taught by civil rights leader Alvin Chambliss Jr., now a distinguished visiting professor at the School of Education and at the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies at IUB.
Born in Kosciusko, Miss., Meredith enlisted in the U.S. Air Force after high school and served from 1951 to 1960. After leaving the service, he attended Jackson State University, a historically black school, for two years. Twice rejected by the University of Mississippi in 1961, Meredith filed a complaint with the district court, alleging that he had been denied admission because of his color. With the assistance of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and after numerous legal battles and appeals, he won the right to attend the university when the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision on Sept. 10, 1962.
His enrollment, opposed by Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett, required federal troops to enforce and led to a violent clash which left two people dead.
Civil rights figure James Meredith lectures at IUB
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