Aram Goudsouzian is a professor and the chair of the history department at the University of Memphis. He’s appeared on Book Talk before to discuss his books, King of the Court about NBA legend Bill Russell, Down to the Crossroads: Civil Rights, Black Power, and the Meredith March Against Fear, and The Men and the Moment: The Election of 1968 and the Rise of Partisan Politics in America. Today we’ll be talking about his latest project, Man on a Mission: James Meredith and the Battle of Ole Miss, an illustrated graphic history of James Meredith’s attempts to attend The University of Mississippi in the early 1960s during Jim Crow. The illustrator for the book is Bill Murray, and the editor is Vijay Shah, and it is published by The University of Arkansas Press.
This podcast comes courtesy of WYPL Book Talk in Memphis. Listen to it here.
In 1962, James Meredith famously desegregated the University of Mississippi (a.k.a. Ole Miss). As the first Black American admitted to the school, he demonstrated great courage amidst the subsequent political clashes and tragic violence. After President Kennedy summoned federal troops to help maintain order, the South—and America at large—would never be the same.
Man on a Mission depicts Meredith’s relentless pursuit of justice, beginning with his childhood in rural Mississippi and culminating with the confrontation at Ole Miss. A blend of historical research and creative inspiration, this graphic history tells Meredith’s dramatic story in his own singular voice.
From the dawn of the modern civil rights movement, Meredith has offered a unique perspective on democracy, racial equality, and the meaning of America. Man on a Mission presents his captivating saga for a new generation in the era of Black Lives Matter.