Tougaloo College - Campus

Campus

The campus includes a Historic District, which comprises ten buildings that are each listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The three anchors of the Historic District are the Robert O. Wilder Building, also known as "The Mansion;" Woodworth Chapel, and Brownlee Gymnasium. Standing in the center of the campus, "The Mansion" overlooks the ensemble of buildings forming the College's historic core.

The Mansion, constructed in 1860, was the home of John W. Boddie, a wealthy cotton planter, and the centerpiece of his 2,000-acre (809 ha) plantation. The first building to be used for Tougaloo College, it is the oldest building on campus. It is presently being restored.

Woodworth Chapel, originally known as Woodworth Church, was built in 1901 by students under the direction of Walker Frazier, head carpenter. It was restored and rededicated in 2002. In September 2004, the National Trust for Historic Preservation awarded Tougaloo College the National Preservation Honor Award for the restoration of Woodworth Chapel. The restoration was also recognized by the Mississippi Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, who bestowed its Honor Award. Woodworth Chapel houses the Union Church, founded alongside the college as a Congregational Church. Today it is the only congregation of the United Church of Christ in Mississippi. Located in the heart of the campus beside Woodworth Chapel is Brownlee Gymnasium. Built in 1947, the building was named in honor of Dr. Fred L. Brownlee, former general secretary of the American Missionary Association.

The College holds the prestigious Tougaloo Art Collection. It was begun in 1963, by a group of prominent New York artists, curators and critics, initiated by the late Dr. Ronald Schnell, Professor Emeritus of Art, as a mechanism to motivate his art students. The collection consists of pieces by African American, American and European artists. Included in the African-American portion of the collection are pieces by notable artists Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, David Driskell, Richard Hunt, Elizabeth Catlett, and Hale Woodruff. The 1,150 works in the Tougaloo Art Collection include paintings, sculptures, drawings, collages, various forms of graphic art and ornamental pieces.

The Tougaloo Art Colony is another distinctive resource of the College. Begun in 1997 under the leadership of former College trustee, Jane Hearn, the Tougaloo Art Colony affords its participants exposure to and intensive instruction by nationally and internationally renowned artists. The annual one-week venue is held in July and includes a Thursday night event open to the public. Past instructors include David Driskell, David R. MacDonald, John McDaniel, Akemi Nakana Cohn, Moe Booker, Jamaal Sheats, Jerre Allen, Kevin Cole, Gail Shaw-Clemons, and Hyun Chong Kim.

Tougaloo College holds The Civil Rights Library and Archives. Among the items in The Civil Rights Library and Archives are the original papers, photographs and memorabilia of such luminaries as Fannie Lou Hamer, Medgar Wiley Evers and Martin Luther King, Jr. In addition, it contains works of notable writers, poets and blues great, B. B. King. Many of these are rare, valuable first editions.

The College established the Medgar Wiley Evers Museum in 1996. The Evers family (trustee Myrlie Evers-Williams and her children with Medgar) donated their home to Tougaloo College for its historical significance. In 1996, the home was restored to its condition at the time of Mr. Evers' assassination in the driveway. It is operated as a house museum and is open to the public.

Ghosts of Mississippi (1996) included scenes filmed at the house and chronicled the quest for justice following Mr. Evers' assassination. The production company helped provide funding for restoration of the house.