ABSTRACT
This chapter revisits efforts leading up to the desegregation of the University of Missouri in 1950. The traditional narrative focuses on the lawsuit filed by Gus T. Ridgel, Elmer Bell, Jr., and George E. Horne challenging the legality of Missouri’s ‘separate but equal’ policies. The lawsuit was the instrument that forced the university to admit Black students. The chapter argues that there was more significant involvement on the part of the university students and administrators in the fight to change the admission policies at MU.
