1.5 Vashon High School, Saint Louis, Missouri

After attending junior high school, Lloyd Gaines enrolled in Vashon High School two years later at the age of sixteen. Gaines proved to be an extremely talented student, especially excelling in history and English.

1.7 Stowe Teachers College, Saint Louis, Missouri

In addition to attending Stowe, Lloyd continued with his magazine subscription sales to help support his family. After a year at the local college, Lloyd Gaines made the decision to transfer to Lincoln University in Jefferson City Missouri.

1.4 Henry D. Espy, NAACP Attorney, Saint Louis, Missouri

Houston, Redmond and St. Louis attorney Cecil Espy began forming their case. The NAACP, on behalf of Lloyd Gaines, petitioned for a writ of mandamus in the Boone County Circuit Court.

1.1 Sidney Redmond, NAACP Attorney, Saint Louis, Missouri 1930s

Lenoir, a member of the St. Louis branch of the NAACP, contacted Sidney Redmond, the branch’s legal consultant, about possible legal action. Redmond passed the information on to the national headquarters and their head of legal services, Charles Hamilton Houston.

An Evening with Richard Claxton “Dick” Gregory, Civil Rights Activist, Nutritionist, Comedian, and Author

Gregory, Richard Claxton “Dick” (Born, October 12, 1932, St. Louis, Mo.), African American comedian and civil rights activist whose social satire changed the way white Americans perceived African American comedians since he first performed in public. Gregory’s autobiography, Nigger, was published in 1963 prior to The assassination of President Kennedy, and became the number one best-selling book in America. Over the decades it has sold in excess of seven million copies. His choice for the title was explained in the forward, where Dick Gregory wrote a note to his mother. “Whenever you hear the word ‘Nigger’,” he said, “you’ll know their advertising my book.” In 1984 he founded Health Enterprises, Inc., a company that distributed weight loss products. In 1987 Gregory introduced the Slim-Safe Bahamian Diet, a powdered diet mix, which was immensely profitable. Economic losses caused in part by conflicts with his business partners led to his eviction from his home in 1992. Gregory remained active, however, and in 1996 returned to the stage in his critically acclaimed one-man show, Dick Gregory Live! The reviews of Gregory’s show compared him to the greatest stand-ups in the history of Broadway.