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The University of Mississippi Museum and Historic Houses is a
The museum complex began with the opening of the Mary Buie Museum in 1939 as a result of the vision of Mary Skipwith Buie of Oxford, an avid collector and an academically trained artist. She left her personal art collection to the city of Oxford in her will, and these items are now in the museum's permanent collections. It also contained the collection of Mary's half-sister, Kate Skipwith, who possessed not only antiques, but such memorabilia as
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...
and two historic houses owned and operated by the University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment ...
in Oxford, Mississippi
Oxford is a city and college town in the U.S. state of Mississippi. Oxford lies 75 miles (121 km) south-southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, and is the county seat of Lafayette County. Founded in 1837, it was named after the British city of Ox ...
. The museum is designed to appeal to both a popular and scholarly audience, with a collection that emphasizes objects of regional interest. In addition to collections of Southern folk art
Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative. The makers of folk art are typically tr ...
, Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
antiquities
Antiquities are objects from antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures. Artifacts from earlier periods such as the Meso ...
, 19th century scientific instruments, and American fine art. Part of the museum complex is Rowan Oak, a historic literary legacy that was once the home of William Faulkner, Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Rowan Oak was renovated and reopened to the public in 2001 and continues to draw international visitors each year. The museum also owns the Walton-Young Historic House – once home to critic and satirist Stark Young. The Walton-Young House is not currently open to the public.
History
The museum complex began with the opening of the Mary Buie Museum in 1939 as a result of the vision of Mary Skipwith Buie of Oxford, an avid collector and an academically trained artist. She left her personal art collection to the city of Oxford in her will, and these items are now in the museum's permanent collections. It also contained the collection of Mary's half-sister, Kate Skipwith, who possessed not only antiques, but such memorabilia as American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
correspondence by notable Americans George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
, John Hancock
John Hancock ( – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of t ...
, and John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...
. Funding for the museum came from the generosity of her family, the Adair Skipwiths, and government programs such as the Works Progress Administration. Oxford operated the original museum from 1939 through 1974, before deeding it to the University of Mississippi.
With the help of a legislative appropriation and funds from the Skipwith Foundation, the museum significantly expanded in 1977 with the opening of the Kate Skipwith Teaching Museum to house the David M. Robinson Memorial Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities, along with the Millington-Barnard Collection of 19th Century Scientific Instruments. The museum again grew in 1998 with the addition of the Seymour Lawrence Gallery to showcase the work of American Modernists, such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Arthur Dove, John Marin, and Marsden Hartley. Collectively, the Walton-Young Historic House, the Buie Museum and the Skipwith Museum were called the University Museums.
See also
*University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment ...
*Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
*Oxford, Mississippi
Oxford is a city and college town in the U.S. state of Mississippi. Oxford lies 75 miles (121 km) south-southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, and is the county seat of Lafayette County. Founded in 1837, it was named after the British city of Ox ...
* Lucy C. Turnbull
References
External links
* {{authority control Buildings and structures at the University of Mississippi University museums in Mississippi Museums in Lafayette County, Mississippi Museums established in 1939 1939 establishments in Mississippi Museums of ancient Greece in the United States Museums of ancient Rome in the United States Folk art museums and galleries in Mississippi Federal Art Project