| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, The 75th anniversary of Texas Southern University |
|
|
provides a fitting opportunity to celebrate the legacy of educator |
|
|
and civil rights activist Heman Marion Sweatt, whose fight to be |
|
|
admitted to law school led to the establishment of TSU in 1947; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Born in Houston on December 11, 1912, Heman Sweatt |
|
|
received his bachelor's degree from Wiley College in Marshall and |
|
|
later attended the University of Michigan; after pursuing several |
|
|
occupations, he took a job as a mail clerk in Houston and became the |
|
|
local secretary of the National Alliance of Postal Employees; his |
|
|
efforts to oppose the discriminatory practices of the post office, |
|
|
where Blacks were systematically excluded from holding supervisory |
|
|
positions, inspired his interest in studying law, but at the time, |
|
|
there were no law schools in the state that admitted African |
|
|
Americans; heeding the advice of civil rights activist and attorney |
|
|
William J. Durham, he decided to apply to The University of Texas |
|
|
School of Law and agreed to serve as the plaintiff in a lawsuit if |
|
|
his admission was denied on the basis of race; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, In February 1946, Mr. Sweatt and members of the |
|
|
NAACP met with T. S. Painter, the president of The University of |
|
|
Texas at Austin, to formally request admission to the law school; |
|
|
despite Mr. Sweatt's qualifications, he was denied entrance when |
|
|
the Texas attorney general upheld the state's policy of racial |
|
|
segregation; in May of that year, Mr. Sweatt filed suit against |
|
|
Painter and other officials, and in an initial ruling, the |
|
|
presiding judge gave the state six months to offer an equal course |
|
|
of legal instruction for African Americans; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, That ruling prompted the Texas Legislature to pass a |
|
|
bill in 1947 that provided for the establishment of four law schools |
|
|
for Black students; it was decided that the Houston College for |
|
|
Negroes, located in the city's Third Ward neighborhood, would be |
|
|
the site of one of the new schools; the institution was acquired by |
|
|
the State of Texas and initially renamed the Texas State University |
|
|
for Negroes; it opened in September 1947 with an enrollment of 2,300 |
|
|
students and offered vocational, pharmacy, and arts and sciences |
|
|
coursework in addition to law studies; its name was changed to Texas |
|
|
Southern University in 1951, and TSU has steadily expanded its |
|
|
educational mission through the decades; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Heman Sweatt's pursuit of equality did not end with |
|
|
the establishment of TSU; he continued his legal efforts to gain |
|
|
admission to the UT School of Law, and in June 1950, the |
|
|
U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Sweatt v. Painter that Black law |
|
|
students were not offered substantial quality in educational |
|
|
opportunities; as a result, Mr. Sweatt and five other African |
|
|
American students registered to attend UT in September 1950, ending |
|
|
the era of segregation at the law school; during his long struggle |
|
|
for justice, he and his family had endured threats of violence, and |
|
|
he faced further hostility after enrolling; the stress took a |
|
|
physical and emotional toll that affected his studies, and in the |
|
|
summer of 1952, he left law school and returned to Houston; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Mr. Sweatt went on to earn a master's degree from |
|
|
the Atlanta University Graduate School of Social Work in 1954, and |
|
|
he was subsequently employed by the NAACP and the National Urban |
|
|
League and taught at Atlanta University; his involvement in civil |
|
|
rights issues included working on voter registration drives and |
|
|
establishing programs for southern Blacks migrating to northern |
|
|
states; he passed away on October 3, 1982, at the age of 69; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Heman Sweatt's determined efforts to fight racial |
|
|
injustice led to the establishment of TSU and helped secure more |
|
|
equitable educational opportunities for Black students, and his |
|
|
extraordinary contributions will continue to resonate long into the |
|
|
future; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 88th Texas |
|
|
Legislature hereby honor Heman Marion Sweatt on the occasion of the |
|
|
75th anniversary of Texas Southern University and pay tribute to |
|
|
the life and legacy of this civil rights pioneer. |