Sweatt v. Painter (1950)
The Separate But Equal Law School
In 1946, the state of Texas had segregated
universities for black and white students. They
were Prairie View A&M and Texas State
University for Negroes (now known as Texas
Southern University) but there were no law schools
for black students. Heman Sweatt was a black
man from Houston that was active in the Civil
Rights Movement. In 1946, he decided he
wanted to get a law degree but he couldn’t leave
Texas. He enrolled in the University of Texas
School of Law which was an all white university.
He met all requirements to be admitted except
one, his race. With help from the NAACP, he
sued the university. The court decided to allow
the university to establish a “separate but equal”
law school and in February 1947, the School of
Law of the Texas State University for Negroes
was opened.
Litigation: The Process of the Lawsuit
Students had access to the Texas Supreme Court library and some of the law faculty
from the University of Texas Law School. The Texas State University for Negroes
School of Law was declared separate but it was not “equal.” The state still dismissed
the case and Sweatt appealed it to the United States Supreme Court. He used the
equal protection clause in the 14th amendment to argue his case. His argument was that
black students must be admitted to the all-white school if there were not any graduate
schools in that state for blacks. The Supreme Court agreed with Sweatt’s argument and
ruled that “equal” required that Sweatt be admitted to the university. In the summer of
1950, black students began enrolling in graduate school at the University of Texas.
Heman Sweatt entered the School of Law that fall. The Supreme Court began reviewing
admission policies of graduate schools through out the south.
Heman Sweatt’s Legacy
Due to the stress of the court case and health problems, Heman Sweatt did not
complete his law degree but he paved the way for others to have access to public
education. For the next 23 years, Sweatt worked for the Urban League in Atlanta,
Georgia. He will die in 1982 at the age of 70. At the University of Texas, his name is
associated with civil rights. Heman Sweatt’s courage allowed more than 650 AfricanAmericans and 1300 Mexican Americans to graduate from the University of Texas Law
School.
Adapted from The Center of American History at the University of Texas and
UTOPIA at the University of Texas