In honor of the University of Mississippi Museum’s 75th anniversary this year, the Ole Miss News Blog is featuring 75 different items from the museum’s archives of more than 20,000 objects.
Today’s featured item is a jacket worn by a member of the University Greys, a unit of the Confederate army that many students joined during the spring of 1861. That following fall, only four students signed up for classes, so the university closed and would not reopen until 1865.
The unit was led by William B. Lowry, a 19-year-old UM student. Other Ole Miss students joined the Lamar Rifles, which was based in Lafayette County, or they left to join units in their respective hometowns.
Many of the University Greys were involved in “Pickett’s Charge” in July 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg. All members of the unit were killed, captured or wounded during the charge. The Greys were part of the 11th Mississippi Infantry, which saw only 53 of its 393 men escape Pickett’s Charge unscathed.
As part of the museum’s anniversary celebration, admission is free through Aug. 8, 2015. There will be a lot to see as the museum introduces several new exhibits and unveils a new major gift as well as the reinstallation of the David M. Robinson Collection of Greek and Roman antiquities.
The first of the 75 items to be featured was the Volute Krater, an ancient Greek artifact. The second item was Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Lake George” abstraction. The third was “Aphrodite,” a large-grained island marble piece made by an unknown Greek artist, and the fourth was Sulton Rogers’ “Devil.” The previous item to be featured was the “Snaggletooth Jug.”
To see a complete list of upcoming events and information on the new exhibitions, click here.
The University Museum is open to the public 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. The museum is closed Mondays and regular university holidays. Its facilities are handicapped-accessible. For assistance related to a disability, call 662-915-7084.