Alexander Hall is a five-story H-shaped building in a Modernist style. The original U-shaped section opening to the south, designed by the Jackson architectural firm Overstreet, Ware & Ware, was built in 1963; the two north-facing wings, built in 1967, were designed by Frank E. Rice. The building’s plain buff-brick walls are punctuated by aluminum windows and vivid blue Masonite spandrels. The main entrance lobby extends the full depth and width of the central cross-wing and is fully glazed, allowing the visitor to see through the building to the opposite courtyard. Glazed staircases at the end of the southern wings played an important role in the May 1970 shootings. A memorial to the two victims of the Jackson State shootings in 1970 is located in the green space between the two south wings. Historical Significance: Alexander Hall was the scene of a somewhat confused Civil Rights/Anti-Vietnam War protest beginning on May 13, 1970, that turned deadly when police opened fire on demonstrators on May 14. The original protest included students frustrated by intimidation from white passersby on Lynch Street—which then divided the campus—as well as those wishing to express solidarity with the Kent State anti-war protesters killed in the riot of May 4. Police and state troopers responded to the scene in force on the second night of protests (May 14) after reports of gunfire, rock-throwing at white drivers, and vandalism. Following a tense and confused standoff, police began firing on the protesters in reaction to supposed gunfire from Alexander Hall. Two people were killed, one a Jackson State student and the other a senior at nearby Jim Hill High School, and at least a dozen were seriously wounded. FBI investigators later found that every window on the south façade had been broken, and they identified over 150 bullet holes in the brick walls of the building. Alexander Hall still bears these marks in its bricks. This building was designated a Mississippi Landmark on 20 January 2012. It is included in "Buildings of Mississippi" (2020) (p. 270, within the listing for Jackson State University, JM66). |