Segregated Students at the University of Illinois, 1945 to 1955

Segregated Students at the University of Illinois, 1945 to 1955

Segregation, University of Illinois, Black Experience on Campus

First Paragraph:

African American students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UlUC) had to bear much of
the burden their ancestors had endured. They were allowed to attend the University, however enrollment
was on a limited basis, and they were not accepted as full and equal participants. The experiences of
African American students at UIUC from the end of World War II to the Brown decision (1945 to 1955)
were part of a history of oven and institutionalized discrimination dating back to the founding of the University.
African American students were constant victims of discrimination from the start of their enrollment at the
University of Illinois. The determination of these students, with the assistance of Albert R. Lee, the unofficial dean
of African American students, and the encouragement of African American elected officials, community individuals,
the Interracial Committee, and individuals in nearby Chicago and St. Louis, enabled them to fight the discrimination
emanating from varying levels.

Deirdre L. Cobb

Journal of the Midwest History of Education Society - Volume 24

1997

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