Meredith (center) being escorted to class after the riot
The Ole Miss riot of 1962 was a violent disturbance at the University of Mississippi (commonly called Ole Miss) in Oxford, Mississippi, as segregationist rioters sought to prevent the enrollment of James Meredith, an African-American. In the wake of the Supreme Court's 1954 decision Brown v. Board of Education, Meredith applied to Ole Miss in 1961. His admission was delayed and obstructed, including by Mississippi governor Ross Barnett, who even had him temporarily jailed. Meredith's multiple attempts to enroll, accompanied by federal officials, were physically blocked. A riot erupted on campus when a mob assaulted reporters and federal officers, burned and looted property, and hijacked vehicles. Two civilians were murdered and 160 marshals were injured, including 28 who received gunshot wounds. U.S. President John F. Kennedy invoked the Insurrection Act of 1807 and mobilized more than 30,000 troops, quelling the riot. A statue of Meredith on campus commemorates the event. (Full article...)
... that a statue of the Medicine Buddha(pictured), dating from the late 8th or early 9th century, never left its temple grounds until 2024?
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Tomorrow's featured article
Tourists photographing the painting
The Founding Ceremony of the Nation is a 1953 oil painting by Chinese artist Dong Xiwen. It depicts Mao Zedong and other Communist officials inaugurating the People's Republic of China at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on October 1, 1949. A prominent example of socialist realism, it is one of the most celebrated works of official Chinese art. After the Communists took control of China, they sought to memorialize their success with art. Dong was chosen to reproduce the October 1 ceremony in a painting, and completed it in a folk art style, drawing on historical Chinese art. When Mao viewed it and liked it, it was assured of success, and was widely reproduced. After government purges, Dong was ordered to remove Gao Gang in 1954 and Liu Shaoqi in 1967. In 1972 a copy was made by other artists to accommodate another deletion. After the purged officials were rehabilitated, the replica was modified in 1979 to include them. Both canvases are in the National Museum of China in Beijing. (Full article...)
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