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In 1948 George W. McLaurin, a black man, applied to the graduate school of the University of Oklahoma in Norman. McLaurin was a retired schoolteacher who aimed for a doctorate in education. As expected, he was denied admission under the Oklahoma statute which made it illegal to attend, teach at or operate a school at which blacks and whites would study together. Since the state of Oklahoma did not offer the alternative of a separate but equal institution where McLaurin could pursue his doctorate, the federal courts ruled the Oklahoma statute unconstitutional.
McLaurin was finally admitted to the University of Oklahoma in October 1948. At the graduate school of education at the University of Oklahoma, McLaurin was required to sit in a classroom alcove labeled "Reserved for Colored." McLaurin also had a segregated desk in the library behind a stack of newspapers where white...