Varied Discussions About Lloyd Gaines and the Refusal of MU to Accept Blacks into their University

Now & Then

Past and present conversations surrounding the Lloyd Gaines case are imperative to understanding the sentiment of America in the late1930s and how the civil rights figure is remembered today.

Letter from Gaines seeking admittance to MU, 1935:

“I would appreciate your prompt attention to this matter, in as much as an early reply would enable me to make the adjustments necessary in completing my plans for the employment of my time for the fall.”

Response from the MU Board of Curators, 1936:
“… any change in the State system of separate instruction which has been heretofore established, would react to the detriment of both Lincoln University and the University of Missouri …”

An editorial in The Missouri Student newspaper, MU’s official student newspaper, 1937:
“Outspoken students said they would not sit by a Negro in class. Stronger voices announced they would leave school if Gaines were admitted. The logic of the latter statement is ridiculous. Where would they go?” The editorial further compared race relations in the United States to those in Europe with, “Lincoln university for the Negro. The Ghetto for the Jew. For, wherein is there a basic difference? … Our actions in accepting him will define our status as Americans.”

Gaines’ letter to his mother, March 3, 1939:
“… I have found that my race still likes to applaud, shake hands, pat me on the back and say how great and noble is the idea; how historical and socially important is the case but—and there it ends. Off and out of the confines of the publicity columns, I am just a man—not one who has fought and sacrificed to make the case possible; one who is still fighting and sacrificing … just another man whose name no one recognized.”

Andom Gherezghiher, MU student, 2006:
“When I toured this campus, the guides talked all about former deans, Beetle Bailey and leprechauns, but nothing about Gaines. They should talk about this on tours. The university should acknowledge that they made mistakes and made changes.”

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