By Mandy Jones
Managing Editor
Civil rights legend James Meredith returned to the Ole Miss campus Friday to a standing ovation, commending the school on its advancements in race relations.
"Dr. King had a dream that 'one day my four children will be judged ... not by the color of their skin.' Dr. King, I want to report that today in the state of Mississippi, your dream has become a reality," Meredith said quoting from Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
Meredith beamed as supporters continued to flood the already packed auditorium room in the J.D. Williams Library at the formal presentation of the James H. Meredith papers, a collection of more than 250 linear feet of clippings and printed material from Meredith's personal appearances and book manuscripts dating back to 1962 when he was admitted into the university as its first black student.
Meredith is best noted as the man who desegregated Ole Miss amid threats from the white community. More than 30,000 federal troops and Mississippi National Guardsmen were called to assist in the resulting riots in the fall of 1962 in reaction to Meredith's admission into the state university. He graduated in 1963 with a degree in political science.
"After I walked across the stage in 1963 and received my graduation certificate, my father said, 'These people can be decent.' I want to report to my father today in Mississippi 'these people are decent," Meredith said.
Meredith credited The Daily Mississippian summer news editor Jenny Dodson with initiating his changed opinion of the university's racist image. "I read those two articles and they basically in effect called for a change. Ole Miss has changed," he said. "I came to Oxford for my March to the Library. I didn't come for the University of Mississippi. But, some of the things I said to her on this campus had never crossed my mind before."
Meredith said that he also was impressed with the commitment of the library's staff in preserving his collection. "I went to other libraries and saw other people's papers stacked up under tables and thought 'Oh, is this going to happen to me?' I do believe indeed people will be able to find my papers and use them."
Chancellor Robert Khayat thanked Meredith for the donation of his papers and commended him for his accomplishments in the civil rights movement. "In his book Three Years in Mississippi, he describes driving down Highway 51 to Kosciusko and realizing he was going home by choice. Through his gift, we are pleased that he is driving home to the University of Mississippi by choice."
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Gerald Walton said that after history professor Charles Eagles interviewed Meredith last summer as a source in his upcoming book on the history of the university and learned that Meredith was looking for a place to house his papers, "we realized the importance that literature by him and about him be here at the University of Mississippi."
Meredith surprised everyone with the conclusion of his speech by formally announcing his candidacy for mayor of Jackson. "The majority of people in Jackson who can nominate me are Ole Miss alumni," he said. "If the Ole Miss graduates in Jackson approve of what is happening here today they will nominate me."
In his closing remarks, Khayat thanked Meredith and wished him luck in his campaign, but said that the university could not officially endorse any political candidates.