"Gaines v. Canada" was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case in 1938 that challenged racial segregation in higher education. Lloyd Gaines, a Black man, applied for admission to the University of Missouri's School of Law, which did not admit Black students at the time. When the university refused to admit him, Gaines sued the school's registrar, S.W. Canada, arguing that he was denied equal protection under the law as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Gaines, stating that the University of Missouri must either admit him or establish a separate law school for Black students of equal quality. However, the state of Missouri chose to establish a scholarship for Gaines to attend an out-of-state law school instead. Tragically, Gaines mysteriously disappeared in 1939 and was presumed dead, never getting the chance to attend law school.

Although Gaines did not live to see the direct impact of his case, "Gaines v. Canada" served as a precursor to the landmark Supreme Court case "Brown v. Board of Education" in 1954. The case highlighted the ongoing struggles for equal access to education for Black Americans and the legal challenges to racial segregation practices in the United States.