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Creation Date
10-1-1949
Description
M. B. Mayfield (1923-2005), a young African American painter in nearby Ecru, MS, was hired as a janitor by Stuart Purser, chair of the newly-established UM Art Department in October 1949.
"After Mayfield finished his chores each day, he would retire to a broom closet off Purser’s classroom. With the door ajar and an easel set up, Mayfield would listen to the lectures and complete the assignments just as the official students did. The other students gave him encouragement, supplies, and sometimes friendship. The shy Mayfield enjoyed working in the closet, which he called “my little private one-student classroom.” Years later, he painted a picture of himself painting in the classroom closet. That and other images from youth and childhood, including his father’s funeral, became the principal subject of his art. He called these depictions “memory scenes.” He also painted fine landscapes, portraits, and still lifes. Mayfield worked and painted at the university for two and a half years. ... Mayfield died of a heart attack on 3 June 2005 in Ecru. Although proud of his artistic abilities, Mayfield shunned the spotlight and did not enjoy parties or large gatherings, even in his honor. He dismissed the idea that he had integrated the University of Mississippi. Speaking of James Meredith, who in 1962 became the first African American to register as a student at the university, Mayfield said, “I didn’t accomplish the things he did. He was the one who took the punishment.” The two men never met." --Mississippi Encyclopedia
Photo of M. B. Mayfield in the 1980s provided by the M. B. Mayfield Foundation.
Also in eGrove: M. B. Mayfield Collection
Relational Format
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