Sponsor: The State Historical Society of Missouri
Professor Crystal R. Sanders, author of A Forgotten Migration, will be giving SHSMO's African American Experience in Missouri lecture titled: "Separate and Nonexistent: African Americans and Graduate Education During the Era of Legal Segregation." Sanders will speak about the obstacles that Black southerners faced and overcame as they pursued graduate and professional school study during the era of legal segregation. While more than 100 public and private Black colleges existed in the South, training beyond the bachelor’s degree was almost impossible. Before 1936, there were only seven schools in the region—all private institutions—where African Americans could pursue graduate or professional school study. No Black institution conferred the Ph.D. degree until 1955. While nonblack students could pursue master’s, doctorate, and professional degrees at state-supported flagship institutions in the South, Black students remained shutout of these schools because of racism. To feign compliance with the legal doctrine of separate but equal, sixteen states authorized the use of public tax dollars for its Black residents to go out-of-state to pursue postbaccalaureate degree programs that were available in-state to white residents. This lecture explores this educational migration of Black scholars during Jim Crow.
The event is free and open to the public. A reception will be held at 6 p.m. with the lecture at 6:30 p.m. The State Historical Society of Missouri is grateful for the co-sponsors of Dr. Sanders' presentation, which include University of Missouri College of Arts and Science, MU History Department, and the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy. Additional support comes from the University of Missouri Department of Women's and Gender Studies.