Sweatt v. Painter: Supreme Court Orders University of Texas Law School Integration

In Sweatt v. Painter (1950), the Supreme Court unanimously rules that the University of Texas must admit Heman Marion Sweatt to its law school. Texas had hastily created a separate Black law school rather than integrate. The Court finds the separate school unequal not just in physical facilities but in reputation, faculty, alumni, and community connections — beginning the argument about intangible inequalities that culminates in Brown v. Board. Sweatt's case is argued by Thurgood Marshall.