Sweatt vs. Painter

On February 26, 1946 Herman Sweatt, who had excellent academic credentials and met all standards for acceptance into the university, was denied admission into the University of Texas Law School because of his African American race. At the time, the University of Texas had a separate law school for African Americans to attend because segregation was still widely accepted in the United States. The University of Texas Law School had 16 full-time professors, 3 part-time professors, 850 students, and over 65,000 volumes in their library along with an excellent reputation ("Find Law"). Meanwhile the separate college for African Americans had 5 full-time professors, 23 attending students, and only 16,500 volumes to study (“Find Law”). The inequality between the two schools was obvious, and many applicants began to question change among the university. Herman, along with many others, denied their acceptance into the separate college and decided to fight for equal education. Being on the verging years of civil rights and sixties revolution, the student’s will power was driven by their years of being unequal in their cruel society. These denials would prove to be the beginning of a long and stressful road that would later influence the decision of Brown vs. Board of Education (Cantu).

Sweatt graduated from Jack Yates High School, a segregated school, in 1930(Burns). Following his high school graduation, Herman attended Wiley College where he earned an undergraduate degree (Burns). He took the job of a principal for a few years as a young graduate, but shortly after decided that he still had an overwhelming hunger for knowledge. Sweatt then attended the medical program at the University of Michigan in 1937 for a couple of years before he...

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Cantu, Ana. "The Legacy of Sweatt Vs. Painter." About. The New York Times Company, 2011. Web. 4 Nov 2011. .

"Civics Resources Sweat vs. Painter." Oyez,Oyez. State Bar of Texas, 2011. Web. 4 Nov 2011. .

"Herman Marion Sweatt." Travis County Archives. Travis County Archives, 2011. Web. 4 Nov 2011. .

"Sweat vs. Painter." Find Law. Thomson Reuters, 2011. Web. 4 Nov 2011. .