James Wesley Silver was born on June 28, 1907, in Rochester, New York, and his family moved to Southern Pines, North Carolina, when he was twelve years old. He studied at the University of North Carolina, Peabody College, and Vanderbilt University, where he earned his doctorate. He began teaching at The University of Mississippi in 1936 and served as chairman of the department of history from 1946 to 1957.

He is the author of many books, including Edmund Pendleton Gaines: Frontier General (1949), A Life for the Confederacy (1959), A Surgeon's Recollections (1960), Mississippi in the Confederacy (1961), and Confederate Morale and Church Propaganda (1967). His most well-known book, however, is the bestselling Mississippi: The Closed Society, published in 1964. In this work, Silver critiqued Mississippi's racial policies and described it as closed to freedom of inquiry. He called Mississippi's failure to accept the "inevitability of change" a "social felony" and compared contemporary attitudes in the state to those of the Civil War period. When Mississippi: The Closed Society was released, Silver cited James Meredith, the first African American student at The University of Mississippi, author William Faulkner, and civil rights leader Aaron Henry as significant influences on his ideas about Mississippi. In 1962, Silver had served as a friend and advisor to Meredith when he enrolled at the University amidst great controversy.

Silver first publicly presented this material in a presidential address before the Southern Historical Association on November 7, 1963. His speech touched off a storm of both praise and criticism around the country, particularly in Mississippi. The Mississippi legislature, as well as some members of the University's Board of Trustees, explored the possibility of dismissing Silver. After twenty-eight years on the faculty, however, Silver's position was secure, and a violation of his tenure rights could have jeopardized the University's accreditation status.

Although Silver initially hoped to outlast the controversy caused by his book, he took a leave of absence from The University of Mississippi in 1964 to teach at the University of Notre Dame. He eventually accepted a regular teaching position there, and later taught at the University of South Florida.

Silver passed away on July 25, 1988, in Tampa, Florida.

This collection consists of two separate groups of records pertaining to James Silver, acquired in two accessions:

Accession 76-40 consists of 5 boxes containing correspondence, writings, research materials, pamphlets, speeches, and newspaper clippings documenting Silver's academic career and events at The University of Mississippi from 1949 to 1965, with the bulk of material documenting the period from 1959 to 1965.

Box 1 contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, speeches, and printed material collected by Silver pertaining to race relations and civil rights organizations from 1959 to 1965, arranged chronologically. The majority of items document the 1964 Mississippi Summer Project, with a concentration on the Medical Committee for Human Rights, the Council of Federated Organizations, the White Community Project, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the Citizens' Council. Box 1 also contains Silver's articles entitled "Report from Britain."

Boxes 2 through 4 house cards with Silver's notes on the lumber industry and other topics. Box 5 contains unprocessed academic and research material, including information on the lumber industry and three pieces of correspondence with Aaron Henry and Hodding Carter.

Accession 87-25 consists of 50 boxes containing correspondence, writings, publications, research notes, legal documents, speeches, personal papers, printed material, newspaper clippings, photographs, and audio recordings from 1935 to 1986. The collection documents a range of topics, including the integration of The University of Mississippi, positive and negative reactions to Mississippi: The Closed Society, and Silver's numerous research projects, speaking engagements, and teaching assignments. The material is roughly grouped into the following categories:

Collected Material -- Race Relations

Box 1 covers Cupit v. Roberts and Stacy v. Williams, two 1969 U.S. district court cases challenging regulations at several Mississippi state colleges and universities barring outside speakers deemed subversive to the academic community. The cases were initiated by two chapters of the Young Democratic Club after Aaron Henry and Charles Evers were prevented from speaking to these groups.

Box 2 contains newspaper clippings on Silver, his books, and other areas of personal interest. It also includes transcripts and articles relating to the integration of The University of Mississippi.

Box 3 consists of articles, ephemera, and printed material on race relations in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as and photocopies of derogatory letters received by Silver in response to his support for civil rights.

Box 4 contains additional newspaper clippings and printed material on race relations. It also includes Silver's academic correspondence with the University of South Florida.

Box 5 consists largely of reviews, correspondence, and newspaper clippings related to Mississippi: The Closed Society, as well as other academic materials.

General Correspondence

Boxes 6 through 14 contain Silver's general correspondence from 1935 to 1986. The correspondence is organized chronologically, with letters arranged alphabetically by correspondent within each time period. Correspondents include Reubin Askew, John Brademas, L. D. Brodsky, Will D. Campbell, Hodding Carter, Thad Cochran, Carvel Collins, Patricia Romero Curtain, Justice Felix Frankfurter, Senator J. W. Fulbright, Albert Gore, Billy Graham, Aaron Henry, Robert F. Kennedy, Estes Kefauver, George F. Kennon, Alfred Knopf, Malcolm X, Benjamin Mays, James H. Meredith, John Salter, Arthur Schlesinger, Eric Sevareid, Frank Smith, Howard K. Smith, Adlai Stevenson, Anne Stokes, Harry Truman, Hugh White, and William Winter.

Academic and Personal Papers

Boxes 15 through17 contain Silver's research materials on William Faulkner and files related to his participation in many different historical associations and conferences from 1949 to 1972.

Boxes 18 and 19 consist of correspondence, bibliographies, and newspaper clippings about Silver's speaking and lecture engagements as well as other academic affairs from 1945 to 1979. Of particular interest are items pertaining to Silver's delivery of "Mississippi: The Closed Society" at the Southern Historical Association meeting in November 1963. Boxes 35 and 36 contain additional correspondence in reaction to Silver's SHA address, including letters from Aaron Henry, Frank Smith, Harrison Salisbury, and Arthur Palmer.

Boxes 20 through 22 contain a variety of personal and academic documents. These include materials relating to Silver's summer and visiting teaching positions, speaking engagements, term papers he wrote as a student, and departmental memoranda from The University of Mississippi. Also contained in these boxes are additional items documenting integration and race relations at The University of Mississippi.

Box 23 contains correspondence related to Silver's academic affairs, including correspondence with J. P. Coleman and David Cohn, as well as assorted conference materials.

Writings and Research

Box 24 through 27 consist of articles, reviews, and letters to the editor written by Silver and other authors with related academic correspondence.

Box 28 contains research material on Mississippi and civil rights, including documents relating to Silver's interview with Harry S. Truman.

Boxes 29 and 30 contain Silver's manuscript and related items for a proposed collection of documents on Mississippi v. U.S, the case that allowed James Meredith to enroll at The University of Mississippi. A transcript and cassette tape of Silver's interview with Meredith on November 12, 1962, is included in Box 29.

Boxes 31 through 34 and Box 37 contain manuscripts of Silver's writings, Mississippi: The Closed Society and Running Scared, as well as notes and personal papers.

Assorted Printed, Visual, and Audio Material

Boxes 38, 40, 41, 43, and 44 through 48 contain various journals, reprints, newspapers, notecards, class roll books, and other printed material. Box 39 contains photographs.

Box 42 contains posters and encapsulated material, including correspondence from Aaron Henry, Frank Smith, Alfred A. Knopf, Arthur Schlesinger, Brooks Hays, Carolyn Goodman, and James Jones.

Boxes 48 and Box 50 contain miscellaneous printed and visual materials, including photographs, journals, student papers, note cards, posters, newspapers, programs, and maps.

Box 49 contains reel to reel audio recordings, including many of Silver's speaking engagements and his speech at the Southern Historical Association in 1963.

This collection is protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code).

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use", that user may be liable for copyright infringement.