Lloyd Gaines graduated from Lincoln University in 1935. Because Lincoln University did not have a law school, Gaines applied to the one at the University of Missouri. The university registrar, Silas W. Canada, would not admit Black students and refused Gaines admission. Gaines claimed this violated the Fourteenth Amendment. On April 15, 1936, Gaines, along with NAACP lawyers, sued to compel Canada to admit him. The Circuit Court and the Supreme Court of Missouri both ruled against Gaines. The case was taken to the Supreme Court of the United States, which, on December 12, 1938, ruled in Gaines’ favor. Segregation was upheld, but Missouri failed to provide equal protection under the law by not giving Gaines equal access to public education within the state. After the decision, Gaines went to Chicago looking for work. He stayed with his fraternity brothers for a few days. During this time, a Black law school was hastily created to avoid desegregating the University of Missouri. The NAACP began preparing a case to force the university to admit Gaines but dropped the case after Gaines went missing. On March 19, 1939, he went to buy stamps and was never seen again. In a letter written to his mother in March, he wrote: "Sometimes I wish I was just an ordinary man. One whose name no one ever recognized." He concluded: "Should I forget to write for a time, don't worry about it. I can look after myself okay." That was the last anyone ever heard from him. [252 words]