By Alex Phillips
Many people fail to recognize the contributions of African-American women to the Civil Rights Movement, while they can readily recall names such as Martin Luther King, Jr. or Malcolm X. As it turns out, there are a number of unknown black women whose stories have been hidden from everyday American history. Just recently, the three women that inspired the movie Hidden Figures and their advancements to science despite having to overcome many struggles during the Civil Rights Era were finally recognized for their contributions. Oklahoma native, Ada Lois Sipuel, is yet another example of a hidden figure whose contribution to the continuous battle for equal rights has gone virtually unnoticed.
While it is completely okay to pay homage to Thurgood Marshall’s victory in the landmark decision of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Marshall did not accomplish the reversal of the “separate, but equal” doctrine without the bravery and courage of others. In fact, Ada Lois Sipuel, an African-American woman, was critical to Marshall’s eventual victory in the U.S. Supreme Court. This begs the question, if Ada Lois Sipuel was so important, why have I never heard mention of her in any of my textbooks or in any of my years of education? Fortunately for me the Ada Lois Sipuel Case Files Archive, located in the Oklahoma Digital Prairie website brings all of us one step closer to correcting this travesty of exclusion by preserving a snapshot of an important piece of American history. This archive, a thorough collection of legal briefs from the Ada Lois Sipuel v. Board of Regents University of Oklahoma case, helps bring another African-American woman out of the shadows of American history. In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Thurgood Marshall may have dealt the final blow to an unjust law, but Ada Lois Sipuel helped pave the path.
The Ada Lois Sipuel Case Files Archive, housed by The Oklahoma Digital Prairie, provides a record of Ada Lois Sipuel’s journey through the courts in the hopes of gaining the opportunity for a higher education. This archive contains all of the legal documents and transcripts from Ada Lois Sipuel v. Board of Regents University of Oklahoma from start to finish. This case was brought about because of the denial of admittance of Ada Lois Sipuel to the University of Oklahoma Law School solely due to the color of her skin. The “Acknowledgement of the Brief” is what was used in the archive to indicate the beginning of the case. This archive includes both the plaintiff and defending side of the case. The plaintiff, Ada Lois Sipuel, is arguing that the University of Oklahoma is in the wrong because of their discrimination. Legally, she should be able to be accepted because she is given the right to an equal opportunity of education. In her petition, which she utilized in the court, she states that she meets all of the requirements needed from the University of Oklahoma which should, therefore, allow her admittance into the law school. The plaintiff argued that they understood the “separate but equal” law, but they de-emphasized the importance of equality. They stated that they understood the University of Oklahoma was legally allowed to segregate, but Sipuel had the right to equal education, and the university was refusing to abide by that. The state is required by law to have a public, state school (equal educational opportunities) available to black students. The University of Oklahoma was the only public law school in the state of Oklahoma, and they were denying Ada Lois Sipuel due to her race, leaving her with no other options. The defendants, the University of Oklahoma, disagreed with the plaintiff’s claims. Their main issues were with some of the wording used by the plaintiffs. They did not agree with their claims that Ada Lois Sipuel was “arbitrarily refused for admission” to the university nor did they agree with the statement that she had all of the qualifications that the university looked for when looking for future students. They also argued with a emphasis on segregation, utilizing it as a way to defend their position with Ada Lois Sipuel. After a couple of days in the supreme court, the “US Supreme Court Per Curiam” ended the case with the decision of the Court. The Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, Ada Lois Sipuel, and the University of Oklahoma granted her acceptance into their law school. Because laws state that she must be provided with professional legal education, the University of Oklahoma had to accept her, especially because she surpassed all of the other requirements needed for acceptance. Ada Lois Sipuel enrolled in the law school that year (digitalprairie.ok.gov). While this archive was very intriguing to me, it left me with an abundance of questions. Who was Ada Lois Sipuel? Why was she so important to history, specifically Oklahoma history? How did this case even reach the Supreme Court? This led me to do some extra research to figure out these answers.
Ada Lois Sipuel was born on February 8, 1924, in the town of Chickasha, Oklahoma (Hall). She was a phenomenal student in high school and even graduated valedictorian. She went on to graduate from Langston University where she, then, wanted to further her academic career even more and obtain a law degree (Hall). During the time she attended school, Oklahoma was still strictly enforcing Jim Crow Laws. Segregation is what led to her denial from the University of Oklahoma Law School. Ada Lois Sipuel felt that it was extremely unfair and illegal to deny her of her only opportunity to obtain a law degree due to solely the color of her skin. She went to law officials to get something changed. She argued that this rejection was illegal and unjust. There were laws mandating that everything may be separate but also equal. Sipuel argued that this was not the case and that there was not a school that she could attend that could give her the same amount of education to allow her to receive her law degree. These lower courts agreed and stated that they would create a colored school so that she could attend that and get the law degree she wanted.
This “law school” however, was quite the opposite of “equal.” The teachers rarely showed up to class to teach her, nor did they care about what they were teaching her. She was one of the only students and she was not taught nearly enough adequate information for her degree to be used poperly. This is when she decided that she needed to stand up for herself and push for equal opportunities in her study of law. The NAACP lawyer, Thurgood Marshall, was introduced to the case. He decided to take Ada Lois Sipuel under his wing and represent her in court. Ada Lois Sipuel’s case went all the way up to the Supreme Court and this is where the archive takes place. Nearly two years after applying and being denied a spot in the law school at the University of Oklahoma, Ada Lois Sipuel was finally granted admittance, but she was still segregated all over campus. She was the only black student at the University and had sectioned off seating in the classroom as well as sectioned off seating in the lunchroom. While she was segregated from the other students at the university, she at least had the opportunity to finally get equal education to allow her to receive her law degree. This is such an important part of American history that is often left forgotten about or unknown. Oklahoma houses this archive in the okdigitalprairies website because of its importance in not only American history, but more specifically, Oklahoma history. The University of Oklahoma was part of this movement toward the supreme court decision of Brown vs. Board and without this case, we might not have gotten there so quickly. This was a breakthrough case that brought awareness to the issues that America was starting to have with the separate but equal clause. Ada Lois Sipuel was such a brave woman to stand up for herself and use her knowledge and her dedication to help other black women nationally. She is a woman that helped pave way for Brown v. Board allowing for all students, black or white – male or female to be able to go to school and have equal opportunities throughout America.
While Ada Lois Sipuel’s case did not end separate but equal, it most definitely helped get to a point where people were starting to realize and understand the significance of laws similar to these. Her case was so important. Over 50 years later, it stands as a reminder to us that one person cannot change everything. Sometimes you fail and sometimes you have to just work your way up to the change. Things don’t change after one court case; it takes multiple tries and multiple people standing up for what they believe is right for change to occur. Such lessons are more easily learned when archives like this one are created.
History books cannot contain all of what has happened in the United States since its founding, so historians are constantly choosing what to include and exclude, purposefully leaving out some of the most important movements that has helped shape America into the country it is today. Without the help of archives, I would have never known about the incredibly inspiring Ada Lois Sipuel. It is so sad to me that I would have never heard of this story, one of the most important steps toward the renowned case of Brown v. Board, had I not found the archive that Oklahoma State University has provided me. History is vital in understanding why society is what it is, and there is no history without archives.
Works Cited
Ada Lois Sipuel Legal Case Files.
http://digitalprairie.ok.gov/cdm/search/collection/sipuel
Hall, Melvin C. “Fisher, Ada Lois Sipuel (1924-1995).” Fisher, Ada Lois Sipuel | The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture 2009,
www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=FI009
Fall 2017
Alex Phillips is a student at Oklahoma State University. She is majoring in psychology and is earning a minor in philosophy. After graduating, she plans on enrolling in a PhD program so that she can further her career and obtain a career as a clinical psychologist.
archiveoklahoma.com 