The Lost History of Lincoln Law

Missouri currently has a total of four law schools. None of them are historically Black. This was not always the case.

At 4310 St. Ferdinand Ave., where the James House apartments are currently located, stood the Lincoln University School of Law.

The short-lived law school operated from 1939 to 1955 and was part of a much larger struggle to end educational inequality in Missouri and throughout the nation.

For much of the twentieth century, African Americans were banned from attending Missouri’s predominantly white colleges. The University of Missouri law program, for instance, accepted its first Black student in 1960.

Yet, HBCUs filled this void for Black students who sought a college education. Lincoln University, for example, still stands today, but first opened in 1866 by militant Black abolitionists and Civil War veterans.

However, problems arose when HBCU students completed their undergraduate degrees and subsequently pursued graduate or professional degrees. Lincoln did not have any such advanced degree program. And white programs did not accept Black students.

To avoid integration, but to still comply with the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson “separate but equal” doctrine, Missouri instituted what historian Crystal Sanders called “segregation scholarships.”

To avoid the integration of Missouri’s universities, state legislators allocated funds for Black students to attend collegiate programs, particularly graduate and professional schools, outside of the state.

In 1921, Walthall Moore, Missouri’s first state representative, introduced a massive bill to the general assembly to address the inequities in the state’s dual system of higher education. The law would change Lincoln Institute’s name to Lincoln University, facilitating its transition to a full, four year institution. The bill also increased Lincoln’s funding with the aim to make the HBCU equal to the state’s flagship institution, the University of Missouri. 

Yet, Moore recognized that any equalization of the institutions would take time. While Lincoln rebuilt itself, Black students would be allowed to take classes at Mizzou or attend colleges in neighboring states that had programs offered at Mizzou, but not Lincoln. 

This was the first time in the nation’s history that a “segregation scholarship” was proposed.

The “Show Me State” was by no means alone. Several states that practiced de jure segregation instituted similar programs. In total, sixteen southern and border states implemented their own version of “segregation scholarships.”

However, Missouri was unique in its role in starting and ultimately ending this practice.

Surprisingly, legislator’s Moore general assembly bill passed. However, no funds were ever allocated for it, effectively negating most of its programs. 

Nonetheless, the idea of “segregation scholarships” survived and passed eight years later in 1929.  

Consequently, Black students could theoretically nearby colleges that had better reputations than those within Missouri.

However, there were several problems to the “segregation scholarships.” Adequate support was rarely provided, particularly when considering transportation, housing, or the higher cost of living in other states. Similar scholarship programs in other southern states often went underfunded and thus viable candidates were excluded when money ran out. Black participants also complained that networking, an essential component of the professional and graduate school experience, was compromised when they were disallowed from studying with their future colleagues within their states. 

These reasons, as well as its underlying racism, urged the NAACP to challenge “segregation scholarships” in the 1930s. By this time, the NAACP had already developed a nation strategy to upend racially discriminatory education. After a comprehensive search, they chose Lloyd Gaines as their main plaintiff to end “segregation scholarships” for good.

Gaines was born in Mississippi but moved to St. Louis as a teenager. After graduating from Vashon High School, he initially went to Stowe Teachers College, and subsequently graduated from Lincoln with honors. From there, he applied to the University of Missouri’s law program which denied him entry because of his race. 

Although Gaines was eligible for a “segregation scholarship,” attending an out of state college was cost prohibitive. Therefore, he challenged the system. 

Gaines’s case eventually went to the US Supreme Court which ruled that Missouri was required to have equal facilities “within its own jurisdiction,” effectively outlawing “segregation scholarships.”

Though this could have led to Gaines attending Mizzou’s law school, he mysteriously disappeared shortly after the decision, and was never heard from again.

The Supreme Court, however, did not compel the University of Missouri to desegregate, which allowed the state to establish a separate law program.

Lincoln University School of Law opened in September 1939 with twenty-four students. It was housed in the former Poro Beauty College building which was owned by iconic businesswoman, Annie Malone. 

The school quickly elicited the disdain of protestors who derisively labeled the institution a “Jim Crow Law School.” NAACP attorney and former Howard Law School Dean, Charles Hamilton Houston, noted that the school building was small, leased, and “subject to the will of the [Missouri] legislature.”

Yet, Lincoln’s Law program also had its supporters. The college successfully recruited William Taylor, who previously replaced Houston at Howard Law, along with other former Howard professors. 

Due in large part to Taylor and other Black professors, shortly after opening, the American Bar Association admitted Lincoln on probationary status among its accepted list of schools.

A total of 79 graduates matriculated at the college. Its notable alumni include Dorothy Freeman who became Missouri’s first Black woman attorney. Scovel Richardson served as a federal judge and returned to become dean of Lincoln’s law school. Graduate Margaret Bush Wilson later became president of the St. Louis and Missouri NAACP branches and chair of the national NAACP Board of Directors. 

Because the school was hastily set up, and with an allocation of only $200,000, the Lincoln University School of Law would eventually close in 1955, one year after the Brown v. Board decision. Another five years would pass before Mizzou’s law school accepted its first Black law student. 

However, a similar climate that gave birth to Lincoln’s Law school unfortunately remains. In 2024, for instance, 371 students were enrolled in Mizzou’s law program. Twelve were Black.