The State Historical Society of Missouri announces that Larry Gragg, author and Professor Emeritus of History at Missouri University of Science and Technology, will be presenting a program that examines the impacts of desegregation in Missouri higher education on Wednesday, November 2, 6 p.m., at the Center for Missouri Studies, 605 Elm Street, Columbia.
This free event is part of the African American Experience in Missouri series hosted by the State Historical Society. The program will begin with a reception at 6 p.m., followed by Gragg’s talk at 6:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend.
The author of 10 books, including Forged in Gold: Missouri S&T's First 150 Years, Gragg will look at the challenges to achieve desegregation of the Missouri School of Mines and the University of Missouri in 1950. He will examine a range of factors, including changes in public opinion and precedents set by court cases. Gragg will also focus upon the role of the presidents at the University of Missouri, Lincoln University, and the five state colleges as they addressed increasing demands for an end to segregation in public higher education in Missouri.
The African American Experience in Missouri series began in 2016 to reach a new understanding of present-day Missouri by examining the history of African Americans within the state. It is sponsored by the State Historical Society of Missouri’s Center for Missouri Studies and the University of Missouri’s Division of Inclusion, Diversity, & Equity.