The university was chartered by the Mississippi Legislature on February 24, 1844, and four years later admitted its first enrollment of 80 students. It operated as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War and narrowly avoided destruction by Ulysses S. Grant's forces. A race riot erupted on campus in 1962 during the civil rights movement when segregationists tried to prevent the enrollment of African-American James Meredith. The university has since taken measures to improve its image. Ole Miss is closely associated with writer William Faulkner and owns and manages his former home Rowan Oak. Two sites on campus, Barnard Observatory and the Lyceum–The Circle Historic District, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.