A hand tinted/colorized 1861 view of the Lyceum at Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi.
The University of Mississippi Lyceum was built at the top of The Ole Miss Circle in 1848. It is the only original building left on campus. It had no wings on it, as built originally. The wings were added in 1903 when more room was needed. From 1848, it was THE school building on campus. All the classrooms, the labs, Professors offices, and the library were in this building. There is a bell on top from 1848. That bell woke students up, it sent them to meals, classes, chapel, and to bed. That bell still sits up on the roof. See the little bell tower on top of the roof?
By the year 2000, the Lyceum was tired. It had all kinds of leaks, it needed modern heat and air, modern plumbing, and modern electricity. The old mortar between the bricks was leaking. At a cost of 11 million the Lyceum was gutted and totally redone. The only original pieces left are the bricks, the columns, the bell, some of the floors, and the front and back doors.
One of the smartest things the University did was to make the front two rooms public. Students can go there to study. The University uses those two rooms for filming and ceremonies. Alumni can meet each other there, and I meet all my tour groups in one of the two rooms.
To decorate those two public rooms Ole Miss called on one of their THREE former Miss Americas. Lynda Lea Meade Shea, Miss Mississippi 1959, Miss America 1960, now living in Memphis. As an Interior Decorator, she was asked to do the job. Lynda decorated both of the rooms in the style of 1848, from the wallpaper to the furniture, to the carpets. As you can see, she did a beautiful job.
Next time, or if you ever get on campus on a non-football gameday, go look at, or go sit in either of those rooms. The view out of the front windows is one of the prettiest on campus. The history that has happened in that building in 176 years, is amazing: Civil War Generals – Grant, Sherman, and James Longstreet (after the War), as well as Archie Manning and sons, Civil War wounded from the Battle of Shiloh 85 miles away – delivered on the train, The University Greys student Company, a few horses according to legends, a few Ghosts, Jefferson Davis, nearly all the Mississippi Governors from 1848 on up. John Grisham, John McCain, William Faulkner, THREE Miss Americas, nearly every Ole Miss student at one time or another, they even let me in occasionally, and thousands of others.
Shown here are the public rooms, some old pictures, the Bell, a drawing of The Circle in 1861, and the Chancelors old office in the back – now the Chancellors ceremonial office.
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