Since its founding in 1848, the University has recurrently been at the center of the nation’s race-related debate. The UM campus has seen triumph and tragedy in the fight for racial equality. Some of these events are known to every freshman by their first day of class. Others may escape students for their entire time here.
The UM NAACP’s Hidden History Tour highlights some of the lesser-known moments.
The tour is open to students, faculty and the public and will begin at 1 p.m. Friday at the Confederate statue in the Circle.
Jaylon Martin, international studies and Chinese major, leads the “Hidden History Tour” hosted by the NAACP on campus February 12. (Photo by: Ariel Cobbert)
Sophomore international studies major and UM NAACP member Jaylon Martin will lead his group to various spots around campus that hold historical significance in a walking tour. He said the tour should help educate and inform participants about lesser known facts concerning the University and help put everything into context.
Roughly 20 people attended the first tour, which was held Feb. 12.
Martin said many who participated in the previous tour gained new perspectives that weren’t clear to them before.
“One of the biggest benefits is that you learn about things on campus that no one really talks about,” Martin said.
Martin said many people see the the past as irrelevant but don’t realize the 1960s really weren’t that long ago and still affect the University and its students today.
“These events aren’t far behind us,” he said.
Martin said, even after Meredith graduated and left the University, racial tensions lingered.
Insight into the Meredith statue is one of the many highlights of the Hidden History Tour. Martin said he informs people about the origins of the Lyceum, the recent removal of the Mississippi flag in the Circle, the 1960s Meredith riots, and details on Shoemaker, Ventress and Bryant Halls, which at times were at the epicenters of the campus desegregation battle.
Junior English major Samiah Patton also helped conduct the first Hidden History Tour.
Patton said many people on the first tour were surprised about the origins of the Lyceum, which was built in 1848. It has served academic and administrative functions, as well as provided a safe harbor from mobs in the 1962 riot.
“A lot of people were shocked to see the Lyceum’s original bricks,” she said.
Patton said many students would gain a deeper understanding of the institution’s history by attending the Hidden History Tour.
“Students see how blacks have always been involved in the infrastructure of the University,” she said.
Patton said she believes the tolerance and inclusion seen on campus today are results of black students fighting for their rights.
“I think students should walk the tour and see how much change has been effected throughout our University due to the progress achieved by black students,” Patton said.
– Annabelle Knef
