After Presumed Death, Civil Rights Pioneer Awarded Law License
by TChris
Lloyd Gaines sued to gain admission to the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law. Gaines wanted to be the all-white law school's first black student. His case made it to the Supreme Court in the separate-but-equal days of 1938. The Court ordered Missouri to admit Gaines or to make other arrangements for Gaines to receive an equal legal education in Missouri.
Disgusted by the "law school" that Missouri created for black students (occupying a building that formerly housed a beauty academy), Gaines moved to Michigan, where he earned a master's degree in economics. Gaines was last seen in October 1939. The mystery of his disappearance has never been solved.
Yesterday, the Missouri Supreme Court awarded Gaines a posthumous law license. Welcome to the profession, Attorney Gaines. You displayed the commitment to justice that should characterize the profession.
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