No Struggle, No Fight, No Court Battle
The 1948 Desegregation of the University of Arkansas School of Medicine
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9089987 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Vanessa Northington Gamble (George Washington University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 68 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 377-415 |
| Publication date | 2013-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-5045 • E-ISSN: 1468-4373 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/jhmas/jrs025 |
| PMID | 22416058 |
| OpenAlex | W2086163818 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 18 |
In 1948, over 30 percent of the approved medical schools in the United States excluded black students. However, on September 10, 1948, the University of Arkansas School of Medicine became the first Southern medical school to desegregate when Edith Mae Irby matriculated. Her admission occurred without incident. There were no jeering white mobs, no court action, and no federal troops. Irby's admission had its roots in a successful legal campaign launched by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to eradicate racial inequalities in professional and graduate education. A confluence of factors led the University of Arkansas to desegregate. These included the state's lack of the financial resources necessary to comply with U.S. Supreme Court decisions, a climate of racial moderation in Arkansas, shrewd political maneuvering by officials at the University of Arkansas, and Irby's academic accomplishments. Irby's historic admission is frequently overlooked as a historical milestone. Its invisibility is due in part to its sharp contrast to the dominant narratives of school desegregation in the South. Yet, the story of Irby's entrance into medical school is critical for a more complete understanding of the history of medical education and the civil rights movement.
Battle · Desegregation · Political science · Politics · Racism · Separate but equal · Sociology · State (computer science) · Supreme court · White (mutation) · American History and Culture · Critical Race Theory in Education · History · Law · Medicine · Public Administration · Race, History, and American Society
The Naacp's Legal Strategy against Segregated Education, 1925-1950
The Governors of Arkansas
Advancing Democracy
Dr. Jim Crow
A Matter of Black and White
States' Laws on Race and Color
There When We Needed Him
Educating Black Doctors
The Edge of Campus
Groundwork
A History of Neglect
The Long Civil Rights Movement and the Political Uses of the Past
Arkansas in Modern America, 1930-1999
The Southern Regional Education Board
The Supply of Negro Health Personnel-Physicians
Problems in the Premedical Education of Negroes
Desegregation of Higher Education in Arkansas
The Case of Lloyd Lionel Gaines
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |