| Before Brown: Heman Marion Sweatt, Thurgood Marshall, and the Long Road to Justice Contributor(s): Lavergne, Gary M. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0292742959 ISBN-13: 9780292742956 Publisher: University of Texas Press OUR PRICE: $35.10 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: September 2010 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Law | Legal History - Social Science | Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - History | United States - 20th Century |
| Dewey: 344.764 |
| Series: Jess and Betty Jo Hay |
| Physical Information: 0.85" H x 6" W x 9" (1.24 lbs) 384 pages |
| Themes: - Ethnic Orientation - African American - Chronological Period - 1950-1999 - Topical - Black History - Chronological Period - 1940's - Geographic Orientation - Texas - Cultural Region - Mid-South - Cultural Region - South - Chronological Period - 20th Century |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: 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'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 (NAACP) for ending racial segregation in the United States. Lavergne masterfully describes how the NAACP used the Sweatt case to practically invalidate 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. |
Contributor Bio(s): Lavergne, Gary M.: - GARY M. LAVERGNE is the author of Worse Than Death: The Dallas Nightclub Murders and the Texas Multiple Murder Law, Bad Boy From Rosebud: The Murderous Life of Kenneth Allen McDuff, and A Sniper in the Tower: The Charles Whitman Murders. He has appeared on Dateline NBC, the Today Show, the History Channel, Biography, American Justice, the Discovery Channel, and many other network and cable news programs. Currently, he serves as Director of Admissions Research for the University of Texas at Austin. |