The University of Mississippi has received letters written by President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy that dealt with the integration of the Ole Miss campus. The letters were written to Raymond Harsham, a 1958 graduate of the university who served as a federal marshal when James Meredith enrolled at the university in 1962. Riots ensued and two people were killed and several hundred were injured.
“These letters are a significant testimony to the bravery of men like Ray Harshman the night of that fateful riot on the University of Mississippi campus,” says Jennifer Ford, head of special collections and associate professor at Ole Miss. “They add a lot to our understanding of the event.”
The donated letters will be housed in the Modern Political Archives collection at the J.D. Williams Library on the Ole Miss campus.
