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.

3.4 MU registrar informed Lloyd Gaines that he was not eligible to attend the University of Missouri due to the fact that Gaines was a Negro

After several weeks, Gaines finally received a reply to his application from Sy Woodson Canada, the MU registrar. Canada informed him that he was not eligible to attend the University of Missouri due to the fact that Gaines was a Negro and it was in conflict of Missouri state law for MU to admit him.

3.1 University of Missouri Campus, 1930s

In the spring of 1935, Lloyd Gaines had requested a catalog from the University of Missouri.

3.8 Guy B. Park, 38th Governor, Missouri, 1933-37

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3.7 Frederick Middlebush, 13th President of University of Missouri, 1935-54

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3.6 William Masterson, Law School Dean, University of Missouri

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3.5 S. Woodson Canada, University of Missouri Registra

Although Canada did not have the ultimate authority to reject Gaines’ application, the chances for Lloyd were bleak; it appeared that the School of Law at MU would not accept him.

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.

1.7 Nicholas Cave, Assistant Legal Counsel, University of Missouri

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1.6 Lloyd Hogsett, University of Missouri Legal Counsel

By March, 1936, the University of Missouri formally rejected Gaines because Missouri law would not permit a person of African descent to enter a white school. Within three weeks, the NAACP petitioned the court asking the University of Missouri to open its doors to Gaines on the grounds that it was the only public law school in Missouri.

2.3 University of Missouri building

The university’s defense, led by William Hogsett, countered that the University was bound by law to reject Gaines’ application and stated that Lincoln University had to provide higher education for Negroes. This is the point that Houston wanted the court to address. Houston got Canada to admit the only students he would bar would be of African descent. Hogsett, on the other hand, was unable to unnerve young Mr. Gaines with speculation that the NAACP had put him up to applying at MU. Gaines replied,” No, that is my idea; about the [law] suit.”

2.1 Boone County Courthouse, Columbia, Missouri

July 10, 1936 was an extremely warm day in central Missouri when Lloyd Gaines, accompanied by his attorneys, arrived at the Boone County Courthouse in Columbia, Missouri to begin deliberations in the historic Gaines v Canada case.

2.6 Judge William F. Frank, Chief Justice, Missouri State Supreme Court

In February, 1937, the Court, in an opinion by Chief Justice William F. Frank, issued their verdict that supported the Missouri statute that allowed for out-of-state tuition for Missouri blacks to continue their education if the desired program was not offered at Lincoln University Once again, the legal team of Lloyd Gaines was not undaunted.

2.5 Missouri State Supreme Court Building, Jefferson City, Missouri

On December 12, 1936, Charles Hamilton Houston was in Jefferson City, Missouri arguing Gaines’ appeal in front of the Missouri Supreme Court. Houston added some teeth to his argument by adding that neither “the slender hope” that Gaines may someday attend a new law program at Lincoln nor the provision of tuition scholarships to attend an out-of-state law school met the US Constitution’s requirement of equal treatment regardless of race.