University of Mississippi Museum Education Blog

Hello! I'm the Library Sloth and I'm taking over the Museum! Well, not the whole Museum, just the Museum Education blog!  Like the Museum said last week, Archives and Special Collections has been working very hard to commemorate Mississippi's 200th Birthday! We saw your Monday Museum Mysteries and knew we couldn't let you have all the fun!  Once a month in 2017, I'll be taking over the Museum's Education Blog to share things from our collection! Hopefully you'll get to see even more cool stuff and come visit me at JD Williams Library!  For our first takeover, we're celebrating Black History Month!  While most famous for her poetry and academic work at Jackson State University, this Mississippi author wrote in a number of different mediums: poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. These are some of the books this author published in the course of her life, any clue who she might be?  Can you think of other Mississippi authors, who wro

Look who we found hanging around the Museum!  This the Library Sloth ; he lives in Archives and Special Collections and said he wanted to come visit US because of the work we're doing related to Mississippi's Bicentennial ! He told us Archives and Special Collections have also been hard at work commemorating our state's 200th Birthday and wanted us to share what they've been up to! Mississippi: 200 Years of Statehood is on display through December 11, 2017 at in the Faulkner Room at JD Williams Library. The exhibit features a wide array of items including 18th century maps, historical textbooks, territorial documents, women's suffrage and civil rights memorabilia! Open 8am-5pm, Monday through Friday (except for University holidays) this exhibit is a can't miss!  Did you know it takes 6 to 8 MONTHS for Archives and Special Collections to develop their exhibits? Be sure to stop by and see all their hard work! Archives and Special Collections

MMM Revealed! Happy Belated Birthday, Seymour Lawrence!  Seymour Lawrence believed in JP Donleavy's work so much, that he was basically fired from The Atlantic after fighting for them to publish "The Singular Man". Doubting his independent publishing company after a rocky start, JP Donleavy showed Lawrence his appreciation and support when he said "All you need to be a publisher is one room, one  desk, one phone and one author. I'll be that author"  Seymour Lawrence moved to Oxford, MS after he visited Barry Hannah and fell in love with the town. The University of Mississippi Grisham Writer-in-Residence now lives in his old house near Rowan Oak. Seymour Lawrence's Collection of Contemporary American Art is on permanent display, so come and visit us to see the rest of the collection today!

Irish-American author JP Donleavy originally wanted to be an artist. After serving in the US Navy he attended Trinity College in Dublin and began showing his work around Ireland. After three successful shows, he attempted to break into the London art scene, but changed his mind after he was rejected for not being famous enough! Untitled (Snake) 1989 JP Donleavy, b. 1926 He believed no one could "hold off" or prevent other people from seeing his writing, but unfortunately, his first book was banned in the United States until the unedited version was published by this man in 1965. Besides being Donleavy's friend, our curators believe this publisher might have been impressed with Donleavy's versatility and perseverance, leading him to buy Donleavy's drawings. Cemetery Under Crescent Moon JP Donleavy, b. 1926 Do you know who this publisher might be? How would you react if you were in a situation like Mr. Donleavy? What are some good strategies for ov