He was one of the founding fathers of the institution and pioneered organ transplant surgery.
Link to the catalog1955: Dr. James D. Hardy named first chair of Department of Surgery at University Medical Center
University Hospital in 1955
1955: Supreme Court hands down Brown II decision
Anti-integration broadside
The US Supreme Court assigned district courts to carry out school desegregation with “all deliberate speed.” Many southern school districts saw Brown II as an opportunity to delay integration.
1955: Tennessee Williams wins Pulitzer Prize for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
May 7, 1955: Reverend George Lee, NAACP voter registration worker, murdered in Humphreys County
Lee, vice president of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership, was shot in the face for promoting black voter registration in the Mississippi Delta. No one was charged for the murder.
August 13, 1955: Brookhaven voter registration worker Lamar Smith murdered on courthouse lawn
Lincoln County Courthouse in Brookhaven
A farmer and World War II veteran, Smith was killed for encouraging blacks to register to vote. According to historian John Dittmer, although the courthouse lawn was filled with people, no witnesses stepped forward and “the killer went free.”
Link to the catalogAugust 28, 1955: Emmett Till, young African American from Chicago, murdered
The 14-year-old was kidnapped, beaten, shot and dumped into the Tallahatchie River for allegedly whistling at a white woman.
September 1, 1955: Governor Hugh White orders local officials to prosecute Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam for Emmett Till murder
J. W. Milam and Roy Bryant
September 23, 1955: Jury acquits Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam in Emmett Till murder
Outside courthouse during trial
A grand jury indicted Bryant and Milam in the murder of Emmett Till on September 6. Their trial began on September 19 in the Tallahatchie County courthouse in Sumner. Bryant and Milam were acquitted after 67 minutes of jury deliberation. The case attracted national attention.