1938: University of Missouri School of Law and Equality of Access

1900-1999: A New Divide
Written By Stephanie Brizee

Big Idea

Lloyd Gaines graduated from Lincoln University in St. Louis and applied to the University of Missouri Law School. He was denied entry because of his race. He sued and won his case, which helped set the precedent for overturning Plessy v. Ferguson’s “separate but equal” determination in Brown v. Board of Education.

What’s important to know?

  1. Fighting for Education: Black activists have long fought for educational rights in the state of Missouri, starting with the Floating Freedom School in 1847 through the establishment of Lincoln Institute (now University) in 1866.

  2. Gaines v. Canada: In the U.S. Supreme Court case Gaines v. Canada, the court established a new precedent requiring that “separate but equal” actually mean the provision of equal educational opportunities. This case helped break down legal arguments for segregation, which eventually led to the Brown v. Board of Education case which disallowed segregation.

  3. Lincoln Law School: The Lincoln Law school was established by the State of Missouri after Gaines v. Canada because it did not want to desegregate the University of Missouri School of Law and so opted to follow the courts requirements by establishing a separate law school.

1: Fighting for Education

John Berry Meachum

Image Source: Blackpast.org

In 1847, Missouri made it illegal for Black people to become educated. One of the early leaders in Black education, John Berry Meachum, a freed Black man living in St. Louis established the “Floating Freedom School” on board a steamship in the Mississippi. One of the Black pupils Meachim educated was James Milton Turner (Brenc, 2014).

In 1866, Turner helped established Lincoln Institute along with other Black veterans of the Civil War and abolitionists such as Moses Dickson. Members of Missouri’s 62nd Infantry raised the initial funding needed and required that the institution be dedicated to the education of African Americans and that it combine classical and vocational education.

In 1890 with the passage of the Morrill Act, Black educators lobbied to have Lincoln Institute recognized as a land-grant state, a status it received along with federal funding. In 1921, it was recognized as a university (O’Connor, 2009).

2: Gaines v. Canada

Lloyd Gaines graduated from Lincoln University in 1935. He wanted to pursue a career in law, but Lincoln did not have a law school. Gaines applied to be admitted to the University of Missouri Law School and was denied because of his race. The university instead offered to pay for him to attend a desegregated law school in another state. Gaines refused (Barnett, n.d.).

Lloyd Gaines

Image Source: Wikipedia

At this time, Missouri had adopted the Plessy v. Ferguson precedent and argued that paying for Black students to receive their law degrees out of state satisfied the “separate but equal” requirement. The NAACP, supporting Gaines, argued that receiving a law degree outside of Missouri meant Black law students were denied classes related specifically to Missouri law and so the “separate but equal” precedent was not upheld.

Gaines, with the support of the NAACP, sued the registrar of the University of Missouri Law School, Sy Woodson Canada. He argued that the denial of admission violated his Fourteenth Amendment rights. He lost within the Missouri courts, but upon appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court had his case accepted.

In November of 1938 the Supreme Court heard arguments for both sides and a month later ruled in favor of Gaines. The ruling did not completely undermine Plessy as it stated that the state of Missouri must either admit him to the White law school or establish a separate Black law school within the state.

Writing for the majority, Chief Justice Hughes stated: “By the operation of the laws of Missouri, a privilege has been created for white law students which is denied to negroes by reason of their race. The white resident is afforded legal education within the State; the negro resident having the same qualifications is refused it there, and must go outside the State to obtain it. That is a denial of the equality of legal right to the enjoyment of the privilege which the State has set up, and the provision for the payment of tuition fees in another State does not remove the discrimination” (Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada, 305 U.S. 337, 1938).

Having established this precedent, the Supreme Court sent the case back to Missouri and asked the courts to re-rule on the case — in other words, would they desegregate the University of Missouri or provide a separate school within Missouri for Gaines to attend. When the state decided to open a separate university, the NAACP with Gaines sued again arguing there was no way the new school could meet the standard of providing the same experience given the substantial different in resources between the University of Missouri Law School and this new school. The state case was dismissed in 1940, because Gaines disappeared in March 1939. It remains a mystery as to whether he had been abducted and killed or if he ran away due to the increasing pressure he felt with the case (Garrison, 2007 and Barnett, n.d.).

While not a complete win, this case represented an important part of the NAACP’s strategy toward having segregation ruled unconstitutional. This case established the precedent that all academic programs available to White students in a state must also thereby be provided to Black students. In 1954, when the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of education they cited this case as part of the precedent influencing its decision (Bluford, 1959, p. 243).

3: Lincoln Law School

The LU law school was located at the site of a former beauty school, Poro Beauty College, 4310 St. Ferdinand Ave. St. Louis, Missouri.

Image Source: Lincoln University

The state of Missouri decided to establish a law school for Black students. The Missouri legislators passed a bill appropriating the equivalent of close to $6 million dollars in today’s currency to support the establishment of a law school. The state rented space from the old Poro beauty school in The Ville, St. Louis. Black activists protested this move on the part of the legislature, referring to it as "subterfuge" and a means of circumventing the Supreme Court decision” (Bluford, 1959, p. 244).

The Lincoln University Law School opened in September 1939 with 30 students. It had a faculty of four members and a dean from Howard University. The school had purchased 10,000 volumes to establish their law library.

Some Black activists called for a boycott of the school in protest that the state had not desegregated the University of Missouri and set up a picket line around the school.

The Call newspaper in Kansas City. The headline was “Picket Lincoln U. Law.”

Image Source: Lincoln University

The law school remained open until 1955 when the impact of Brown v. Board of education led to the desegregation of universities across the state of Missouri (Bluford, 1959, p. 244).

Your Turn

What was the impact of Gaines v. Canada? How did the ruling help or hurt access Black educational access?

Stephanie Brizee
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