OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - The city of Oxford has a twin, and a new sign has made it official.
A sign was erected recently in Oxford acknowledging a “twinning” relationship that Oxford began in 1956 with the French city, Aubigny-sur-Nère.
The two places were named sister cities, or twin towns, in an effort to promote cultural, commercial ties and tourism between the two cities.
Until recently, there was no longer evidence of this relationship.
Oxford once had a sign on the grounds of City Hall, but it was taken down when the William Faulkner statue was installed and the old magnolia tree removed. Dr. William Strickland worked with city officials to change that.
“The old sign was erected in the mid-70s, possibly as part of our country’s bicentennial in 1976,” said Strickland. “The new sign is a welcoming beacon to our friends in Aubigny, showing our commitment to better international understanding and our dedication to keeping our longstanding bonds fresh and strong.”
He said the new sign is a smaller version of the original, but similar in design.
Strickland asked: “In a county named after the French general Lafayette, a hero in our history of freedom and self-determination, isn’t it appropriate that we make cultural bonds with France?”
And he said it’s ironic that the installation of the Faulkner statue led to the demise of the original sign, because “Faulkner loved the French and its culture, spent time in Paris, and had his largest worldwide following in France, as many in his hometown shunned him as ’Count No-Count.’”
The seeds for the twinning began in 1956 when Strickland’s father, Dr. William E. Strickland, chairman of the Modern Language Department at the University of Mississippi and a French professor, became interested in establishing a summer school program through the university with a town/city in France.
“My father’s mother and my grandmother, Yvonne Strickland Goldsborough, had done just that with Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida - its summer abroad program being one of the first of its kind in the nation years earlier.”
Goldsborough was a native of France who grew up in Aubigny-sur-Nère in central France two hours south of Paris.
“My father married a native French woman, my mother, Ginette Strickland, who is still a longtime resident of Oxford, and who also has ties to Aubigny,” Strickland said. “Therefore, Aubigny was a natural place to have the summer school program established, affording a familiar place in a historic French town, and an opportunity for my mother and our family to return annually to his French roots.”
Because of this connection, Strickland said his father realized a cultural bond with formal exchanges could be made between Oxford and Aubigny, and the twinning was created.
It wasn’t, however, until the mid-70s when a renewal of the twinning fostered by Mayor John Leslie of Oxford and Mayor Fromion of Aubigny strengthened the relationship. Numerous student exchanges, a proclamation and official governmental ceremonial meetings were created and performed.
“In 1989, and in honor of the French bicentennial, a ceremonial tree was planted in Oxford with a native French tree, following a similar ceremony performed in 1976 to commemorate the U.S. bicentennial when a tree from Oxford was planted in Aubigny,” Strickland said. “The former tree is located on a parking island in front of Neilson’s and Hinton & Hinton on the Oxford Courthouse Square. It still thrives today.”
Strickland said the relationship between the two cities declined with fewer contacts and cultural events, and the sign was eventually removed along with the large magnolia tree when the Faulkner statue was installed.
He’s been told the proclamation is still visible somewhere inside City Hall, and there has been mention of the “twinning cities” on the city website, but there has been little evidence of the partnership until the new sign was erected.
Strickland said he hopes Oxford residents will want to learn more about France and French culture, consider visiting their charming and historic twin city, accept visitors into their homes, and that “both school exchanges and official city exchanges will form, grow and prosper from this outward visible sign of our bonds.”
He said the sign helps create awareness for that.
“For me, personally, the new sign ends the embarrassment I have had when Oxford showed no outward sign of our twinning, while Aubigny - throughout the history of the twinning - proudly displayed, and continues to display Oxford as its twin at all entry points into Aubigny with signage,” he said. “It was very unsettling to me that if we do have a twin city, we either promote and acknowledge our relationship in some obvious manner, or we otherwise end it. It just cannot be one way.”
Strickland said Oxford should set an example for Mississippi to build bridges with others beyond the borders.
He thanked Mayor Pat Patterson and Alderman Jay Hughes for helping with the sign project.
“I hope that the sign is just a beginning,” he said, “and our two cities can further our ties with meaningful dialogue and interaction.”
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Information from: Oxford Eagle, https://www.oxfordeagle.com
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