As part of the University’s Celebration Weekend, on Friday, April 27, 2001, at 2:00 p.m., in the lecture hall of historic Barnard Observatory, Provost Emeritus Gerald W. Walton and Professor T. J. Ray will present slides and comments on early campus buildings. Among these are the Lyceum (1848), the only survivor of the University’s first buildings; the Old Chapel (1853), recently renovated to house the Croft Institute of International Studies; and Barnard Observatory (1857-59), home of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture since 1979 and, for its outstanding restoration, winner of a 1995 Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Another of the many buildings to be discussed is Ventress Hall (1889), which housed the University Library, the School of Law, the Departments of Geology and Art before being restored in 1998 as administrative offices of the College of Liberal Arts.

   Walton and Ray are longtime faculty members at the University and experts on the history of its buildings. Walton came to the campus as a graduate student in 1956 and remained until his retirement at the end of June 1999, serving as professor of English, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, vice chancellor and provost. In addition to serving as a professor in the English Department from 1971 until his retirement in June 2000, Ray was one of the faculty members who started the Faculty Technology Development Center. Among its projects are saving and making accessible thousands of photographs, including those of campus buildings.

   The slide lecture by Walton and Ray will follow a 1:30 p.m. program during which University Chancellor Dr. Robert C. Khayat, former Mississippi Governor William Winter, and Center Director Dr. Charles Reagan Wilson will dedicate the Lynn and Stewart Gammill Gallery at Barnard Observatory. The Gammills, of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, are longtime supporters of the Center.

   Center friends are invited to attend the dedication and the slide lecture as well as a reception that will be held in the courtyard garden behind Barnard Observatory, from noon until 1:30 p.m. Also, friends are invited to attend the 4:00 p.m. rededication of the Lyceum, built on the campus more than 150 years ago and recently restored as part of a $11 million project.