Berea College v. Kentucky

Berea College v. Kentucky (1908) is a significant civil rights case in higher education that paved the way for subsequent judicial decisions that struck down segregated educational facilities as unconstitutional. Even so, the U.S. Supreme Court did not take an integrationist stance in Berea. Instead, the Court upheld a law from Kentucky that prohibited individuals and corporations from operating schools that taught both African American and White students.

Since its founding in 1855, Berea College had educated both African American and White students in a nondiscriminatory manner. However, in 1904, the Kentucky legislature passed the Day Law, which prohibited African American and White students from receiving an education at the same school or in schools that were located less than 25 miles apart. Insofar as Berea ...