Oxford Donors Support Cultural Destination
Lewises commit gift to Greenfield Farm Writers Residency
OXFORD, Miss. – Oxford champions Patty and Will Lewis are giving to the Greenfield Farm Writers Residency project, the nonprofit stipend-supported writers residency being developed by the University of Mississippi.
Their $100,000 gift will help build Greenfield Farm on a 20.4-acre site between Oxford and New Albany once owned by Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning author William Faulkner and now by the university.
The two leaders are excited about what Greenfield Farm will mean to Ole Miss, Oxford and beyond.
The university is developing Greenfield Farm as a writers retreat on a tract once owned by William Faulkner off Highway 30 between Oxford and New Albany.
"As longtime residents of the university community, we are proud to see its development as a cultural destination," Will Lewis said. "We have known of the William Faulkner farm and accepted it casually, but now comes John T. Edge, one of our own, to recognize its potential and have the enthusiasm and knowledge to develop the property in a greater way as a writers retreat with the title William Faulkner gave it, Greenfield Farm."
The university and city of Oxford have a long history of successful collaborations, Patty Lewis noted.
"The growth and international acclaim we enjoy occur when dreamers' dreams come true," she said. "We hope others in our community will donate to this worthy cause."
Will Lewis and his family own J.E. Neilson Co. department store in Oxford, founded in 1839. It is the oldest continuously operating store in the South and the nation's 16th oldest, a beloved institution to generations.
Patty Lewis and her business partners owned and operated the popular Downtown Grill restaurant on the Oxford Square for 22 years.
Both devote time to the university, as Patty Lewis serves on the advisory board of the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts and as a founding member of the Ole Miss Women's Council for Philanthropy. Will Lewis gives of his time on Now & Ever: The Campaign for Ole Miss committee of the University Museum.
John T. Edge (left), director of the Mississippi Lab, shares plans for the writer's residency at Greenfield Farm at a 2022 event to gauge interest in the project. Photo by Kirsten Simpson/University Development
Edge, developer of the Greenfield Farm Writers Residency and director of the Mississippi Lab, said he sought Will Lewis' opinion on the project from the beginning.
"When the Greenfield Farm Writers Residency was just an idea, Will Lewis was the first person I talked to," he said. "He knew the property, its history as a mule farm and its stewardship by William Faulkner.
"From that first conversation to this important moment, Patty and Will Lewis have strongly believed in this project. This is the sort of gift, by respected arts and culture leaders, that makes a big difference."
Enhancing the strong literary tradition of Oxford and the university, Greenfield Farm is projected to cultivate 50-60 writers annually who work in Mississippi or are inspired by the state's history and culture. Writers will stay an average of two to three weeks at no charge, with stipends of $1,000 per week going to those using the overnight studios.
Support for the Greenfield Farm campus has topped $4 million, and construction is expected to begin late this year. It includes four studios and a gathering pavilion, plus a restored farm shed and the late Rev. Will D. Campbell's relocated cabin.
Walking trails and communal spaces will connect writers to the natural world. Exhibits will tell the story of this land and the people associated with it, beginning with the Chickasaws and including the McJunkins family, who worked the land before Faulkner.
Will Lewis, a native of Oxford, earned a bachelor's degree in 1958 from Ole Miss and graduated from its School of Law in 1962. Patty Lewis pursued a business administration degree and graduated in 1962.
The longtime financial supporters of academics and athletics at Ole Miss also have given research materials to their alma mater.
Will Lewis, who purchased Neilson's with his sister in 1964, donated a collection of handwritten accounting ledgers, correspondence and daybooks from the store in 2016 to the Department of Archives and Special Collections at the university's J.D. Williams Library. The 63 volumes, dating from the 1870s to the 1990s, offer a glimpse into the history of Lafayette County and Oxford. Lewis' father, Will Lewis Sr., worked at Neilson's beginning in 1912.
To support the Greenfield Farm Writers Residency, send a check with the fund's name written in the memo line, to the UM Foundation, 406 University Ave., Oxford, MS 38655, or give online here.
Top: Patty (left) and Will Lewis, of Oxford, have given $100,000 to help build Greenfield Farm on a 20.4-acre site between Oxford and New Albany once owned by author William Faulkner. Greenfield Farm is a nonprofit stipend-supported writers residency being developed by the university. Photo by Bill Dabney/UM Foundation