Yoknawpatawpha Press

Publishing Oxford, MS

Available September — James Meredith: Breaking the Barrier, edited by Kathleen W. Wickham

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James Meredith: Breaking the Barrier is an illustrated collection of essays commemorating the 60th anniversary of James Meredith’s historic 1962 enrollment at the University of Mississippi. Providing a unique combination of viewpoints, ten former University students, journalists, historians and eye-witnesses tell the story of James Meredith’s turbulent but successful path to become the state’s first African American to graduate from the University of Mississippi.

50+ photos, 160 pages, paperback, ISBN 9780916242909, $15.00.

Contributors

James MeredithJames Meredith
Describes his three-year campaign to break the color barrier at the University of Mississippi and his graduation in 1963.
Dorothy Gilliam
The first female African American reporter hired by the Washington Post, explores the legal challenges Meredith overcame.
William Doyle
Author of An American Insurrection, reveals how Meredith planned and carried out what amounted to a military campaign to secure admission to the university.
Sidna Brower Mitchell
Former student-editor of The Daily Mississippian, turned out a midnight edition of the school paper and received a Pulitzer Prize nomination for her editorial calling for calm.
Curtis Wilkie
A journalism senior and a spectator during the riot, drew a map showing the positions of the U.S. deputy marshals and the demonstrators.
Henry Gallagher
As a U.S. Army MP lieutenant, commanded the military security detail which guarded James Meredith 24/7 after he was enrolled at the university.
Marquita Smith
Ole Miss journalism professor, records African Americans’ recollections of how Meredith’s enrollment at the University of Mississippi impacted their lives.
Kathleen Wickham
Editor of the book and journalism professor at Ole Miss, examines the tragic story of French journalist Paul Guihard, the only reporter to be killed during the Civil Rights era.
William Winter
Former governor of Mississippi, tells how Mississippi overcame mob rule to recognize the rights of all its citizens.
Jesse Holland
Ole Miss alumnus and White House historian, credits Meredith in the “Foreword” with paving the way for generations of African-American students.

Dean Faulkner Wells’ book launch at the Lyric Theatre, March 7, 2011

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This is the video of Dean’s launch of her memoir “Every Day by the Sun” at the Lyric Theatre. The night before the booksigning, she experienced stage fright at facing a large audience. Five friends–authors Jack Pendarvis, Lee Durkee, Ace Atkins, Wright thompson and Tom Franklin–volunteered to precede Dean at the reading and “warm up the audience” for her.

Cinematography by Greg Johnson.

WILLIE MORRIS’S OXFORD

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2022 Mississippi Book Festival, Willie Morris panel discussion: Larry Wells, publisher of five books by Willie Morris, noted author and former editor-in-chief of Harper’s magazine, tells how Morris helped Oxford, Mississippi evolve from Faulkner’s shadow to become a literary community in its own right. (Video by Kathleen Wickham, length16 minutes.)