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Before Brown:
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Before Brown:
ESSAYS and COMMENTARY
Eric Hoover's "Diversity in the Heart" for the Chronicle Review AUDIO/VIDEOS Before Brown: Heman Marion Sweatt, Thurgood Marshall, and the Long Road to Justice
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REVIEWS Leland Ware, University of Delaware, for Journal of American History, June 2011, pgs. 260-61. "Before Brown is an engaging narrative about the people and events involved in Sweatt v Painter (1950)... a well-written book that makes a worthy contribution to the literature." Joan C. Browning, Independent Scholar and Freelance Writer for Southern Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of the South, Fall/Winter 2010, pgs. 97-99. "Gary M. Lavergne eloquently demonstrates that before Brown, there was Sweatt v Painter (1950)... This 'Long Road to Justice' is a welcome addition to lengthening the Montgomery to Memphis civil rights chronology, joining scholars who have greatly enriched our understanding of the struggle by and for black freedom... Lavergne harnesses scholarly techniques to tell a compelling story in the words of its actors. Historians will find his research compelling. He spins the history as a yarn that legendary folklorist J. Frank Dobie might have spun--except this story is true." Jerome Teelucksingh, The University of the West Indies, for The Western Journal of Black Studies, Spring, 2011, pg. 157. "Undoubtedly, Before Brown is essential for anyone desiring to learn about those forgotten personalities, before the 1960s, who bravely battled disenfranchisement, challenged the Constitution and sought to overturn decades of U.S Supreme Court precedents. Andrew Cohen, Legal Analyst and Commentator, CBS News and Columnist for PoliticsDaily.com "This is a great read and adds valuable detail to our knowledge and understanding of the hard work, great risks, and cast of characters that set the stage for the Brown decision" Stuart Stern, Office of Development and Alumni Relations, South Texas College of Law "In his engrossing book Before Brown: Heman Marion Sweatt, Thurgood Marshall, and the Long Road to Justice, Gary M. Lavergne presents the stories of plaintiff Sweatt, a black Houstonian, and his attorney Marshall, the star counsel of the NAACP, and depicts the painstaking groundwork that was laid by Marshall and his legal team to achieve victory in the landmark case." Thomas D. Russell, Professor, University of Denver Sturm College of Law, in a Special to the Austin American Statesman, October 17, 2010 "In law schools — including UT's law school when I taught there during the 1990s — many professors teach nothing about the political and social change between Plessy in 1896 and Brown in 1954. Students are left thinking that Brown sprang spontaneously from the heads of enlightened Supreme Court justices. Lavergne's "Before Brown" fills a gap in knowledge and also presents a well-researched and engaging tale of law, race and history in Texas."
PREVIEWS Amilcar Shabazz, Professor and Chair, W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies, U. Mass Amherst "At last someone has told the story of Heman Sweatt, one of the great sons of the struggle for freedom and justice, with all the drama and passion it deserves. Gary Lavergne’s Before Brown takes readers down the long road Sweatt courageously traveled to oppose legalized white supremacy and racial discrimination. His sojourn is one we all should know. The fight to open the University of Texas to all was a turning point that led to the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the racial segregation it had sanctioned in Plessy. Those who take racial diversity at our preeminent institutions of higher education for granted do so at great peril and diminish the sacrifices of Sweatt and others. Read this book and find out why.”
Patrick Weil, Directeur de Recherche au CNRS, Centre d'histoire sociale du XXe siècle, Université de Paris 1, Sorbonne-Pantheon "What a great idea to bring to life the ordeal of Heman Marion Sweatt, his fight for justice, and the landmark victory that paved the way to Brown vs. the Board of Education. And who better than Gary Lavergne, a talented writer and admissions officer at the center of other Texan breakthroughs in the quest for greater access to higher education, to write this compelling narrative?" Paul Begala, Political Contributor, CNN “Heman Sweatt is a hero whose name should be enshrined with Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston and William Barrett Travis. Like Texas' founding fathers, Sweatt fearlessly faced evil, and made Texas a better place. His story is our story, and Gary Lavergne tells it well."
Pamela Colloff, Senior Editor, Texas Monthly “Vivid, absorbing, and gracefully written, Before Brown explores the human cost of Heman Marion Sweatt’s simple, but hard-earned, ambition: to get a good education. Gary Lavergne’s gifts as a storyteller bring Sweatt’s journey, and the context of his struggle, alive. With a novelist’s eye for character and detail, Lavergne gives us an intimate portrait of Sweatt. His story reminds us that in the not-so-distant past—when a black man could be denied admittance to law school solely because of his race—‘change’ was slow-going. Before Brown is both a monumental work and a great read. Sweatt’s story is one that every American should know."
Jonathan Alger, Vice President and General Counsel, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey “Before Brown is a welcome and important addition to the chronicle of this nation’s ongoing civil rights struggles. This carefully researched work brings an underappreciated but critical legal case to life and demonstrates the very real human triumphs and toll of major civil rights litigation. Lavergne places Sweatt v. Painter case in a larger historical and social context in the fight for racial equality and integration. This compelling story reminds us that higher education was (and still is today) a key civil rights battleground as the gateway to opportunity for so many facets of our society, and should help ensure that this case will no longer be a mere footnote in the shadow of Brown v. Board of Education. Before Brown demonstrates how the law can serve as both a reflection of our society’s evolving values and a tool for social justice.” Richard W. Lariviere, President, The University of Oregon “This is a story of human frailties and human fears and how individual courage and community resolve can overcome them. Lavergne’s telling of the human drama around Sweatt v. Painter gives us a fuller and more accurate picture of that legal landmark in American history. He captures the physical and emotional price that was paid to bring Texas and America closer to their own ideals. The telling and the story are both inspirational.”
Teresa Sullivan, President, The University of Virginia “This is a story that the nation should not forget, and it is told here with rich context and nuance. The battle for civil rights here is so much more than a successful Supreme Court case.”
Lodis Rhodes, Professor, Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin "Gary Lavergne has traced a significant chapter in the struggle to secure civil rights in this country – a struggle of collective triumph amid personal tragedy. Before Brown ably captures the complex, layered interplay of power, politics, and ideology that is the human drama in Heman Sweatt’s story. Lavergne masterfully highlights key ethical, legal, and policy issues throughout the book. The careful reader sees that the intractable problems of justice and fairness that befuddled many in the past are still with us today, albeit in new forms. The moral of this story is there is unfinished work to be done by all of us."
Daniel J. Saracino, Assistant Provost for Enrollment & Director of Admissions, University of Notre Dame
Saul Geiser, Research Associate, Center for Studies in Higher Education, University of California, Berkeley “Before Brown is a meticulously researched and movingly written account of the African American community’s efforts to integrate admissions at the University of Texas. Deftly interweaving political and legal history with personal biography, Gary Lavergne’s account is a must for any who would wish to know the backstory of people and events in Texas that would lead four years later to the US Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education.” |
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