Video: MUW Gets $2 Million Gift From ‘Founding Mother’

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COLUMBUS, Miss. — Ann Coleman Peyton, granddaughter of W founding mother Annie Coleman Peyton, has provided a bequest gift of more than $2 million to support scholarships for W history students.

Earlier today, W President Dr. Jim Borsig, presented the Mary Lou Peyton Scholarship to the university and then assisted in unveiling a portrait of Annie Coleman Peyton.

“Generous private support such as this from the Peyton family allows us to provide meaningful academic opportunities for students who seek their education at The W,” Borsig said. “It is a significant gift for us, and perhaps even more so because of this gift’s historical connections to our earliest days.”

The Mary Lou Peyton Scholarship will be awarded to qualified students who are majoring in history. The scholarship funds may be used to help cover expenses for history majors who are participating in internship programs or The W’s study-abroad program. If in a given year, the funds available to be awarded exceed the scholarship needs of history majors, the scholarship may be used to support students whose course of study includes a substantial history component.

“The College of Arts and Sciences is honored and excited to receive this generous bequest from the Peyton family,” said Dean Brian Anderson. The history faculty will work diligently to employ the funds in ways that maximize the program’s educational mission: through development of the Mary Lou Peyton Scholarship program for history majors who are strong academic performers, and, in particular, those with limited financial means to support their studies.”

Mary Lou Peyton was one of two children of Annie Coleman Peyton and aunt to Ann Coleman Peyton.

She attended I.I. & C and later taught part-time at The W from 1938-1945. Her mother, Annie Coleman Peyton, for whom Peyton Hall is named, was one of I.I. & C’s founders and taught history there from 1891-1898.