The university of Texas at Austin celebrated their first Black graduates to earn a degree in Zool- ogy. Exalton Delco was UT’s first Black person to receive a Ph.D. in Zool- ogy. UT’s very first Black graduate Oscar Thompson also studied zoology. UT Austin did not always accept Black students and neither did many other predominantly white institutions there is deep rooted history that have allowed these men and many others to now be celebrated at their alma maters.
Brown v. Board of Edu- cation is the staple case that most people know about. However, there are 3 major cases that paved the way for Brown v. Board. Those 3 cases are, Missouri ex rel Gaines v. Canada in 1938, Sweat v. Painter in 1950 and
Mc. Laurin v. Oklahoma which also took place in 1950. Despite, the land- mark decision of Plessy v. Ferguson which created “Separate but Equal” things in fact continued to be unequal between Black and white people, causing a series of U.S. Supreme Court cases regarding the injustices of race to take place. The NAACP took a stand to overcome racial discrimination.
Lloyd Lionel Gaines was an African American man born in Water Val- ley, Mississippi in 1911. Gaines was the plaintiff in Missouri ex rel Gaines v. Canada in 1938. Gaines had completed his un- dergraduate studies at Lin- coln University, he applied to the University of Mis- souri Law School but was denied because of his race. The state of Missouri tried to negotiate with Gaines by offering him admission to an all-black law school that would have to be built (Missouri did not have any at the time) or offer Gaines assistance with his tuition at a neighboring states law school. Gaines declined both of these offers and hired Thurgood Marshall to represent him.
In Gaines decision to sue the state of Missouri, the case eventually made it to the U.S. Supreme Court. It was argued in November 1938 that his denial to the University of Missouri Law School was a violation of the 14th Amendment. The 14th Amendment guarantees equal protection of the laws of all persons born or naturalized in the United States. The state of Maryland made the claim that Gaines should have sued Lincoln University and forced them to open a law school. Charles Hamilton Houston a lawyer apart of Gaines’ defense team argued that the state of Missouri’s offer to pay for Gaines to attend law school at another state would not guarantee him a legal or equal education offered to white students.
In December of 1938, the state of Missouri swiftly created a law school for Black people to avoid desegregating the University of Missouri law school and to continue to uphold “Separate but Equal.” The NAACP prepared to argue another case forcing the University of Missouri to offer Gaines admissions; however, Gaines shortly disappeared. Gaines was last seen leaving a fraternity house in March but was not considered miss- ing until October; he was never found. Due to his disappearance the case was dropped. The University of Missouri awarded Gaines an honorary law degree in 2006.
12 years later in 1950 the Sweatt v. Painter became a U.S. Supreme Court case. This case almost mirrored Missouri ex rel Gaines v. Canada. Heman Marion Sweatt was born December 11th, 1912, in Houston, Texas. Sweattis the plaintiff in the U.S. Supreme Court case Sweatt v. Painter. Sweatt and his counsel challenged the “Separate but Equal” doctrine. Sweatt attended Wiley College in Marshall, Texas and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1934. Before making his decision to attended law school, Sweatt worked as a teacher and then went on to attend the University of Michigan to become a physician. However,
he decided he no longer wanted to be a physician and decided to pursue law.
Sweatt applied to the University of Texas School at Austin school of Law, but the University president Theophilus Painter held on to Sweatt’s application while waiting to hear back from the attorney general regarding segregation laws. Painter informed Sweatt that he had the credentials to be admitted into the law school but because of segregation laws he would not be able to attend. Painter also told him they only thing that would be available to him would be out of state scholarships. The attorney general decided to follow the segregation laws and denied Sweatt admission. In 1946, the case went to court where the ruling was the University of Texas had 6 months to build an equal law school for Black people. After 6 months, the case was dismissed because Texas A&M had decided that would provide legal education for African Americans.
In June 1950, the Su- preme Court decided that African American students had not received adequate and equal law education in the state of Texas, as a result the University of Texas at Austin school of law was to permit students who met the qualifications regardless of race. In September of 1950, Sweatt registered for classes at UT’s law school, however, due to emotional stress and trauma he was not able to maintain his grades. He later dropped out and went to school for social work in Atlanta. Sweatt died October 3rd, 1982. The Travis County Courthouse where the case originally took place, named the “Heman Mar- ion Sweatt Travis County Courthouse” on October 21st, 2005.
The same year, in 1950 a similar case took place in 1950. McLaurin v. Oklahoma Board of Regents of Higher Education. This case fought for the prohibition of racial segregation in graduate & professional studies. The plaintiff George W. McLaurin was born September 6th, 1887. McLaurin had received his master’s degree from the University of Kansas, and he applied to the University of Oklahoma’s doctoral program. McLaurin was accepted but he was forced to stay away from the white students at all costs. He had to attend class separately, eat separately and sit at a reserved table in the cafeteria.
