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Breaking Down Barriers: George McLaurin and the Struggle to End Segregated Education
For nearly sixty years, the University of Oklahoma, in obedience to state law, denied admission to African Americans. Only in October 1948 did this racial barrier start to break down, when an elderly teacher named George McLaurin became the first African American to enroll at the university. McLaurin’s case, championed by the NAACP, drew national attention and culminated in a U.S. Supreme Court decision. In Breaking Down Barriers , distinguished historian David W. Levy chronicles the historically significant—and at times poignant—story of McLaurin’s two-year struggle to secure his rights.
Through exhaustive research, Levy has uncovered as much as we can know about George McLaurin (1887–1968), a notably private person. A veteran educator, he was fully qualified for admission as a graduate student in the university’s School of Education. When the university denied his application, solely on the basis of race, McLaurin received immediate assistance from the NAACP and its lead attorney Thurgood Marshall, who brilliantly defended his case in state and federal courts.
On his very first day of class, as Levy details, McLaurin had to sit in a special alcove, separate from the white students in the classroom. Photographs of McLaurin in this humiliating position set off a firestorm of national outrage. Dozens of other African American men and women followed McLaurin to the university, and Levy reviews the many bizarre contortions that university officials had to perform, often against their own inclinations, to accord with the state’s mandate to keep black and white students apart in classrooms, the library, cafeterias and dormitories, and the football stadium.
Ultimately, in 1950, the U.S. Supreme Court, swayed by the arguments of Marshall and his co-counsel Robert Carter, ruled in McLaurin’s favor. The decision, as Levy explains, stopped short of toppling the decades-old doctrine of “separate but equal.” But the case led directly to the 1954 landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which finally declared that flawed policy unconstitutional.
Through exhaustive research, Levy has uncovered as much as we can know about George McLaurin (1887–1968), a notably private person. A veteran educator, he was fully qualified for admission as a graduate student in the university’s School of Education. When the university denied his application, solely on the basis of race, McLaurin received immediate assistance from the NAACP and its lead attorney Thurgood Marshall, who brilliantly defended his case in state and federal courts.
On his very first day of class, as Levy details, McLaurin had to sit in a special alcove, separate from the white students in the classroom. Photographs of McLaurin in this humiliating position set off a firestorm of national outrage. Dozens of other African American men and women followed McLaurin to the university, and Levy reviews the many bizarre contortions that university officials had to perform, often against their own inclinations, to accord with the state’s mandate to keep black and white students apart in classrooms, the library, cafeterias and dormitories, and the football stadium.
Ultimately, in 1950, the U.S. Supreme Court, swayed by the arguments of Marshall and his co-counsel Robert Carter, ruled in McLaurin’s favor. The decision, as Levy explains, stopped short of toppling the decades-old doctrine of “separate but equal.” But the case led directly to the 1954 landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which finally declared that flawed policy unconstitutional.
246 pages, Paperback
Published September 10, 2020
16 people want to read
About the author
David W. Levy
21 books3 followersDavid W. Levy is Professor Emeritus of the Department of History of Oklahoma University at Norman Oklahoma.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 11, 2021
A Masterpiece
Dr. Levy’s account of McLaurin’s upbringing, life, successes, and struggles is undoubtedly accurate, well researched, and thorough. But what makes this book a page-turner worthy of five stars is the author’s unquestionable command of language, effective descriptions, and meaningful contextual exploration and analysis. The McLaurin case laid the groundwork for Brown v. Board of Education, and while that case is rightfully recognized as a landmark case and a turning point in our country, it likely wouldn’t have happened the way it did without McLaurin.
Dr. Levy’s account of McLaurin’s upbringing, life, successes, and struggles is undoubtedly accurate, well researched, and thorough. But what makes this book a page-turner worthy of five stars is the author’s unquestionable command of language, effective descriptions, and meaningful contextual exploration and analysis. The McLaurin case laid the groundwork for Brown v. Board of Education, and while that case is rightfully recognized as a landmark case and a turning point in our country, it likely wouldn’t have happened the way it did without McLaurin.
May 9, 2024
A thorough and relatively concise overview of one of the key court cases that led to the desegregation of education in Brown v Board of Education. The McLaurin case was one of two such cases involving the University of Oklahoma and this book offers extensive background on the history of racial segregation before and after statehood in 1907.
Levy’s account draws from extensive archival and legal sources and provides fascinating quotes from a range of individuals involved in the case, including politicians, school officials, students, and members of the public in Oklahoma and elsewhere. Levy has a clear writing style and does a good job presenting the different phases of the case and the legal and social issues that all of the parties had to navigate.
Levy’s account draws from extensive archival and legal sources and provides fascinating quotes from a range of individuals involved in the case, including politicians, school officials, students, and members of the public in Oklahoma and elsewhere. Levy has a clear writing style and does a good job presenting the different phases of the case and the legal and social issues that all of the parties had to navigate.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews