69th Anniversary of the Integration of UNC-Chapel Hill

Today, June 22, 2020, marks the 69th anniversary of the integration of both Carolina Law and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. On June 22, 1951, five African-American students, Harvey E. Beech, James L. Lassiter, J. Kenneth Lee, Floyd B. McKissick, and James R. Walker began summer session classes at the law school.

The integration of UNC and the law school came after years of litigation by the NAACP, slowly building precedent by challenging segregation in all levels of the education system, starting with graduate education. McKissick v. Carmichael, the 1951 case that led to the desegregation of UNC, was one of those cases. It along with others eventually led to Brown v. Board and remains an important milestone in the lead up to the Civil Rights Movement.

A full history of this event can be found in “The Integration of UNC-Chapel Hill – Law School First,” an article published in the North Carolina Law Review in 2019, by Donna Nixon, Clinical Assistant Professor of Law and Electronic Resources Librarian at the Kathrine R. Everett Law Library.