Colonel Reb

Never knew Colonel Reb was really James "Blind Jim" Ivy.

• The Resemblance: Late Ole Miss historian David Sansing and other prominent alumni noted that the original cartoon was heavily modeled after Ivy's specific style of dress. Ivy regularly wore a sharp three-piece suit, a wide-brimmed hat, and walked with a cane.

• The Color Flip: As Sansing noted: "The original Colonel Rebel emblem is a spitting image of 'Blind Jim' Ivy, except for white skin." The cartoon took Ivy’s distinct wardrobe and posture but recast him as an elderly, white Southern plantation owner.


• Campus Presence: Ivy arrived in Oxford, Mississippi in 1896. He became a beloved fixture on campus for nearly 60 years, selling peanuts and candy, giving speeches to incoming freshmen at the Lyceum, and traveling with the sports teams as an energetic booster. He famously joked, "I've never seen Ole Miss lose".

• Honorary Titles: Students affectionately gave him the honorary title of "Dean of Freshmen" and considered him the university's unofficial "athletic talisman" or mascot decades before a costumed character ever walked the sidelines.