Gaines v. Canada was a landmark Supreme Court case that took place in 1938. Lloyd Gaines, a Black student, applied to the University of Missouri Law School, which denied him admission solely based on his race. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund represented Gaines in challenging the school’s decision, arguing that Missouri’s refusal to admit him violated his rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The case ultimately reached the Supreme Court, which ruled in a unanimous decision that the University of Missouri must either admit Gaines or establish a separate law school for Black students. This decision was significant as it affirmed the principle of equal treatment under the law and marked an important step towards the desegregation of higher education in the United States.

While the outcome of the case did not immediately result in Gaines being admitted to the law school (as he mysteriously disappeared shortly after the Supreme Court’s decision), the impact of Gaines v. Canada paved the way for future civil rights victories and helped to dismantle legal barriers to equal education for Black Americans.