Sweatt vs. Painter, 1947Working to create a test case for the NAACP, Heman Marion Sweatt applied to the University of Texas' Law program in 1946, because there was no law school for black students in Texas. Upon his expected rejection, a lawsuit was filed against the university on the grounds that his "denial of admission constituted an infringement of rights guaranteed to him under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution." (Overcoming, 1)
The Texas courts found that if the state could establish a new law school for black students that provided equal facilities to Texas Law, Sweatt would then attend that school instead. Texas hastily created this new school, but it was severely lacking in the resources, faculty, and architectural structure UT Law had been able to develop in its decades of functioning. Sweatt's case made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it was argued that the separate facilities for black students, if they even existed, could not generate an equal education to those of the facilities for white students. In June, 1950, a decision was finally made and the Supreme Court found the treatment of Sweatt was not equal, and under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, ordered his admission to the law school. |
Photo: https://www.kut.org/austin/2015-12-09/the-first-supreme-court-case-challenging-races-role-in-ut-admissions
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Photo: https://alcalde.texasexes.org/precursors/
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The PrecursorsWhile a few more black graduate students had been admitted since 1950, the first black undergraduates were admitted at the University of Texas in the fall of 1956. This great success following the Brown v. Board of Education decision was not the end of the battle however, which was far from over. Black students were unofficially prohibited from participating in dramatic performances, the marching band, and varsity athletics teams. (Overcoming, 5)
Resistance to integration hit a high point in a production put on by the College of Fine Arts when Barbara Smith, a black music student, was set to play the female lead in the opera "Dido and Aeneas," opposite a white male lead. The prospect of the university endorsing the image of an interracial relationship in this way angered many people, Smith received numerous threats, and several Texas legislators asked the university to remove her from the opera cast. Though she was removed from the performance, Smith noted "the ultimate success of integration at the University was much more important than my appearance in the opera." (Overcoming, 6) Though Smith's story emulates a still-hostile campus climate towards black students, small victories of integration continued to trek forward. Pictured on the left, Gwen Jordan was elected to the Student Assembly from Arts and Sciences in 1962, making her the first black student to hold an elected student government office (The Cactus 1962, 86). |
Almetris DurenA beloved figure in Austin's black community and to the University, Almetris "Mama" Duren was incredibly influential in the lives of numerous students during her time at the University of Texas. Duren recognized early on the critical need of resources for the university’s new black students, who were isolated on the large, white campus, and set out to fill this need herself. She was the housemother of Almetris Co-op, one of the only housing options for the first black female students on campus, and encouraged the use of the house for social gatherings and community engagement. Duren understood retention of minority students was just as essential as their admission, and advised them through the hardships of adjusting to university life by finding tutors and suggesting part-time jobs for financial concerns. Duren tirelessly served the university and the minority student community as an advisor in the Dean of Students office for many years, assisting in the establishment of the Innervisions of Blackness, UT’s first all-black non-Greek organization, and Project Info, UT’s first minority student recruitment program.
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Photo: https://alcalde.texasexes.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Duren_large.jpg
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Integration of DormsWhile the university had technically integrated the 40 Acres by admitting black students, the campus' dorms had yet to allow students of color into all-white housing. From the admission of the first black undergrads, until 1964, the students, particularly black women, fought for equal and integrated housing.
The fight was long and hard-fought, because campus officials were against the idea of integrating housing, and even building new separate housing for black students. In 1959, the Dean of Students, H. Y. McCown, sent a letter to Vice-President Harry Ransom on the subject of adding more housing for black female students. McCown claimed that building a new cooperative for black women in the area where white women’s cooperatives were may present a “prestige problem,” and since cooperatives were not integrated at the time, finding additional housing seemed not to be an option for McCown. (“Additional Housing for Negro Women Students,” November 16, 1959, The Almetris Duren Papers, box 4A260, The Briscoe Center for American History, Austin, TX.) Conditions of black women students’ housing in particular were desolate. Their main off-campus option was Eliza Dee Dorm, which was many blocks from UT and required a lengthy commute. On campus options remained incredibly limited, and the state of the buildings were very poor. The residents of one of the only housing options for black women, Whitis Hall, sent a letter to the university officials detailing the various issues with the structure and capacity of their building located at 2512 Whitis. These issues included poor wiring, rotted wood on the porch, deteriorating furniture, stained wallpaper, damaged ceilings, and lack of space in rooms and the kitchen. (“Observation of Condition at 2512 Whitis,” October 19, 1959, The Almetris Duren Papers, box 4A260, The Briscoe Center for American History, Austin, TX.) Though students and some faculty pushed for integration of dorms in many ways, they were met with resistance from segregationists and the Board of Regents. The Students’ Assembly voted in 1961 for gradual integration of dorms, and conducted polls that revealed some students would live in integrated dorms, and some were completely against any further integration of the university. In another vote, the General Faculty Assembly met and voted in favor of a resolution for abolishment of segregated dorms. (Overcoming, 9) The Board of Regents felt that The University of Texas was likely moving faster in desegregation processes than many other southern schools, and its actions are already “further than a majority of citizens of Texas and the members of the Legislature would approve.” (Overcoming, 10) Even after three black students filed a lawsuit against the university for refusing to integrate, the Board of Regents decided to leave any decision making about integration at the hands of the court. Finally, in May 1964 the Regents voted to remove all racial barriers to housing, and UT President Norman Hackerman affirmed this decision in an announcement to the university, where he said “...Neither the University of Texas nor any of its component institutions shall discriminate either in favor of or against any person on account of his or her race, creed, or color.” (Overcoming, 14) |