Title Before Brown : Heman Marion Sweatt, Thurgood Marshall, and the long road to justice / Gary M. Lavergne

Edition 1st ed Published Austin : University of Texas Press, ©2010

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Description 1 online resource (x, 354 pages, 10 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations Series Jess and Bettry Jo Hay series Jess and Betty Jo Hay series. Contents One of the great prophets -- The cast of characters -- Iron shoes -- The shadow of failure -- The second emancipation -- A university of the first class -- "A brash moment" -- The great day -- "Time is of essence" -- "The tenderest feeling" -- The basement school -- A line in the dirt -- "I don't believe in segregation" -- The sociological argument -- The house that Sweatt built -- "Don't we have them on the run" -- A shattered spirit -- The big one -- Why Sweatt won Summary On February 26, 1946, an African American from Houston applied for admission to the University of Texas School of Law. Although he met all of the school's academic qualifications, Heman Marion Sweatt was denied admission because he was black. He challenged the university's decision in court, and the resulting case, Sweatt v. Painter, went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in Sweatt v. Painter, went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in Sweatt's favor. The Sweatt case paved the way for the landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka rulings that finally opened the doors to higher education for all African Americans and desegregated public education in the United States In this engrossing, well-researched book, Gary M. Lavergne tells the fascinating story of Heman Sweatt's struggle for justice and how it became a milestone for the civil rights movement. He reveals that Sweatt was a central player in a master plan conceived by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People I(NAACP) for ending racial segregation in the United States. Lavergne masterfully describes how the NAACP used the Sweatt case to practically validate the "separate but equal" doctrine that had undergirded segregated education for decades. He also shows how the Sweatt case advanced the career of Thurgood Marshall, whose advocacy of Sweatt taught him valuable lessons that he used to win the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954 and ultimately led to his becoming the first black Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. A moving story in its own right, Sweatt's struggle and triumph also underscores the fact that the end of enforced racial segregation in the United States was not a one-time event but rather a decades-long process driven forward by the courage and determination of individuals such as Heman Marion Sweatt "At last someone has told the story of Heman Sweatt, one of the great sons of the struggle for freedom and justice, with all the drama and passion it deserves. Gary Lavergne's before brown takes readers down the long road Sweatt courageously traveled to oppose legalized white supremacy and racial discrimination. His sojourn is one we all should know. The fight to open the University of Texas to all was a turning point that led to the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the racial segregation it had sanctioned in Plessey. Those who take racial diversity at our preeminent institutions of higher education for granted do so at great peril and diminish the sacrifices of Sweatt and others. Read this book and find out why."--Amilcar Shabazz, Professor and Chair, W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst "Heman Sweatt is a hero whose name should be enshrined with Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, and William Barrett Travis. Like Texas's founding fathers, Sweatt fearlessly faced evil and made Texas a better place. His story is our story, and Gary Lavergne tells it well."--Paul Begala, Political contributor, CNN "This book will provide an important and valuable addition to the scholarly literature on law, education and civil rights. The Sweatt case is still cited in major affirmative action cases today (such as the University of Michigan cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003), so it remains relevant and important in or jurisprudence ... I particularly like the way this book provides the larger context of the struggle for equal rights, not just in education but also in voting and other aspects of American Life."--Jonathan Alger, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey --Book Jacket Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes English Print version record Subject Sweatt, Heman Marion, 1912-1982. Sweatt, Heman Marion, 1912-1982 -- Trials, litigation, etc Painter, Theophilus S. (Theophilus Shickel), 1889-1969 -- Trials, litigation, etc Marshall, Thurgood, 1908-1993. SUBJECT Marshall, Thurgood, 1908-1993 fast Painter, Theophilus S. (Theophilus Shickel), 1889-1969 fast Sweatt, Heman Marion, 1912-1982 fast Subject University of Texas at Austin -- History -- 20th century SUBJECT University of Texas at Austin fast Subject Segregation in higher education -- Texas -- History -- 20th century African American college students -- Texas -- Biography African Americans -- Texas -- Biography African Americans -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- Texas -- History -- 20th century LAW -- Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice. SOCIAL SCIENCE / Ethnic Studies / African American Studies African American college students African Americans African Americans -- Legal status, laws, etc. Race relations Segregation in higher education SUBJECT Texas -- Race relations -- History -- 20th century Subject Texas Genre/Form Biographies History Trials, litigation, etc. Form Electronic book LC no. 2009049278 ISBN 9780292784895 0292784899

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