A Prelude To Rosa Parks: The Story of Heman Marion Sweatt (1912 - 1982)
Posted: Friday, February 09, 2007
by Joseph Collins
Publisher / Columnist for Double Impact magazine
Nine years before Rosa Parks changed a nation by refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery city bus, another undistinguished African-American stepped into civil rights history. By refusing to accept "Whites Only" as a response to his application to Law School, Heman Sweatt played a major role in overturning the "separate but equal" doctrine in American law that locked African-Americans in a second-class status and denied them access to the best opportunities this country has to offer.
In 1946, Lula White, the fiery leader of the Houston NAACP called for an African-American to apply to the University of Texas Law School with the expectation of being denied based on race. This would provide Thurgood Marshall, a lawyer at the national NAACP office, the opportunity to challenge the denial based on the Equal Protection clause of the Bill of Rights. Sweatt, wearing glasses and standing 5', 6', 135 lbs, rose to his feet. He would discover over time that his decision would cost him his health, marriage and numerous death threats to him and his family. He later referred to his response that day as "a brash moment".
Sweatt and a group of representatives from the NAACP met with University of Texas at Austin President Theophilus S. Painter, who discouraged the application and asked for a ruling from the Texas Attorney General. The application was denied. Sweatt filed suit at the Travis County Courthouse, giving birth to a major civil rights case known as Sweatt v. Painter. The case spent four years winding its way through the legal system, finally ending with a victory in the US Supreme Court. Despite having suffered a heart attack, stomach ulcers and the stress of a broken marriage, an emotionally exhausted Heman Sweatt enrolled in law school. Although he was unable to endure the rigors of law school and eventually dropped out, the door to equal education opportunities for blacks in Texas had been kicked down with a vengeance. The court ruled that a separate but equal school was indeed not equal, and that the State of Texas could no longer keep African-Americans out of flagship schools and programs.
On a national scale, the Sweatt case is monumentally important and cannot be overemphasized. Thurgood Marshall used Sweatt and a lesser known case in Oklahoma to serve as legal precedents for the watershed civil rights case known as Brown v. Board of Education, which led to the integration of schools at all levels across the country, not just in Texas. Today, Sweatt v. Painter is required reading in Constitutional Law classes all over America and is widely quoted in legal cases involving any aspect of the equal protection clause regarding the civil rights of all Americans.
Copyright ã Joseph Collins 2007
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)Very interesting Mr. Collins, I’ve never heard of this man until reading your articleDavid, thanks for commenting! Sweatt tends to be widely known in the legal community but not so in the general public. The Travis County Courthouse in Austin where he filed suit is now named after him and the Univ of TX holds an annual symposium named after him. Most importantly, many African American lawyers have been trained at UTexas including the Chief of the TX Supreme Court Wallace Jefferson, former mayor of Dallas Ron Kirk, and many other notables. Sweatt deserves his place in history.
Mr. Collins: Because few African-Americans are familiar with Heman Marion Sweatt, thanks for giving readers who visit this website, the opportunity to learn more about a man who may have been small in stature, but was a giant of the pre Civil Rights Movement. You told the story eloquently and without frivolity, resulting in me, wanting to know more about Mr. Sweatt. To reiterate, great article, and one that I would recommend that Blacks of all ages and socioeconomic-status read.Peggy, thanks for commenting. Sweatt definitely deserves his place in history and I enjoyed telling his story. Keep up the writing on your end. You have a beautiful writing style. Have a good week!
Joseph, I've shared with you before how I would have enjoyed History, whether, Black, American or World History, so much more if my teachers had been as fine a scholar as you. Thank you for an excellent article and education. It was enjoyed immensely. You are my Black History moment and inspiration.
Anonymously yours (above).Avis, what an incredible Valentine's Day gift! I have never been called someone's "Black History Moment and Inspiration" but it sure feels nice! Thank you!
I found a helpful free video resource of the Sweatt v. Painter case. This site also has other landmark Supreme Court case videos. You can see them at no charge at Vat19's website, under the "Free video tips" link at the bottom left.Thanks for bringing this resource to the attention of our readers!
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