The NRHP Lyceum-The Circle Historic District at the University of Mississippi, at Oxford MS, consists of 12 contributing buildings at and around the University Drive Circle at the historic entrance to the university.
From the National Park Service: (
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“Summary of Significance
Between September 30 and October 1, 1962, the Lyceum, The Circle, and surrounding buildings played an integral role in the turbulent events associated with the racial desegregation of the University of Mississippi. On these dates, segregationist rioters clashed with federal troops over the court-ordered admittance of African-American student James Meredith. The tumultuous event marked a decisive turning point in the federal government’s enforcement of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision and the decline of violent southern massive resistance to school desegregation.
Describe Present and Historic Physical Appearance.
Located at the center of the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) campus in Oxford, Mississippi, the Lyceum-The Circle Historic District contains a collection of eight academic buildings arranged around the perimeter of an interior common called “The Circle.” Three resources date to the university’s very beginning: the Lyceum (1848), University Circle (1848), and the Croft Institute for International Studies (the “Y” Building, 1853). The remaining six buildings: the Old Chemistry Building and Carrier, Shoemaker, Ventress, Bryant, and Peabody Halls, were built between the late-nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries. These buildings feature Neoclassical Revival detailing and are built of brick, limestone, and concrete. The common is more oval than circular in shape and comprises a landscaped green with mature oaks, magnolias, and pine. A network of paths radiate outwards from a central flagpole, and a Confederate memorial statue commands a prominent point at the eastern edge. An asphalt-paved roadway designated as “University Circle” encircles the green.
All of the buildings, structures, sites, objects, and the green in the Lyceum-The Circle Historic District, are contributing resources. These resources and the district as a whole retain a high degree of integrity in their location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. The following narrative describes each of the resources in the district, assesses their integrity, and notes the roles these resources played in the desegregation of Ole Miss. Narrative building descriptions (other than the Lyceum) focus on the exterior since the activities occurring inside the buildings were limited in scope.
Contributing Resources:
. . .
10. The Y. On the northeast side of The Circle stands the Croft Institute for International Studies, which was known as the “Y” Building at the time of desegregation and was known earlier as the Old Chapel in 1853.
A low-pitched hip roof crowns the three-story, brick building.
Beneath the wide eaves of the roof are modillions and scroll work brackets. The window and door openings on The Circle side of the building are arranged in eight columns. Windows on all three floors consist of brick voussoirs and stone sills. Those on the first story have 16/12, double-hung sashes while those on the upper floors have 12/12, double-hung sashes. At both ends of the façade are double-leaf, six-panel, wood doors with pilasters, a transom, and an entablature. A one-story porch runs across the north side of the Y. During the riot at Ole Miss, the Y building harbored many people escaping the tear gas and the general melee. Others crowded into the Y to watch President Kennedy’s televised speech regarding Ole Miss’ desegregation.27 This building has retained its historic character for over a century and a half."