70 years ago Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher was refused admittance to the University of Oklahoma’s law school. The reason? The color of her skin. State law mandated the segregation of public educational institutions. The ensuing legal battle made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court two years later, notes member station KGOU.
The high court ruled the State of Oklahoma had to provide Sipuel Fisher with a legal education comparable to white students. Oklahoma then pulled a dirty trick. The state set up a makeshift “law school” for the woman to attend, to keep her out of OU. The state regents even created a cardboard sign that read “Langston University School of Law.” They then certified Langston as having a law school equal to OU.
The NAACP was forced to prove Langston’s law school was not equal. Sipuel Fisher was finally admitted and graduated from OU Law in 1951.