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DR. LEWIS AND CAROLYN MITCHELL WERE ACTIVE MEMBERS OF THE ROSEWOOD COMMUNITY DURING THE 1940s. DR. MITCHELL OWNED A DENTISTRY PRACTICE ON EAST 12TH STREET AND WAS THE SCHOOL DENTIST FOR SAMUEL HUSTON COLLEGE AND THE TEXAS BLIND, DEAF AND ORPHAN SCHOOL. MRS. MITCHELL WAS A PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION AT SAMUEL HUSTON COLLEGE AND THE DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DRAMA AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION AT TILLOTSON COLLEGE. THEIR HOME WOULD PROVE TO BE THE CENTRAL LOCATION FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE LANDMARK SWEATT V. PAINTER CIVIL RIGHTS CASE.
WHEN HEMAN SWEATT’S APPLICATION TO THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS LAW SCHOOL WAS REJECTED DUE TO HIS RACE IN 1946, THE DENIAL SET IN MOTION BENCHMARK LEGAL PROCEEDINGS. THE DISTRICT COURT TRIAL TOOK PLACE IN AUSTIN IN MAY 1947. DUE TO THE JIM CROW LAWS OF THE TIME, SWEATT’S TEAM OF LAWYERS, WHICH INCLUDED FUTURE SUPREME COURT JUSTICE THURGOOD MARSHALL, HAD TO RESIDE IN THE HOMES OF COMMUNITY MEMBERS. THE MITCHELLS WELCOMED MARSHALL AND HIS TEAM INTO THEIR HOME ON SAN BERNARD STREET, WHERE THEY HELD MOCK TRIALS, PLANNED STRATEGY, INTERVIEWED THEIR WITNESSES, AND PREPARED SWEATT FOR HIS TESTIMONY. COMMUNITY MEMBERS ALSO GATHERED AT THE HOUSE IN THE EVENINGS TO DISCUSS CURRENT ISSUES AND INTERACT WITH THE WELL-KNOWN MARSHALL, THEN CHIEF COUNSEL FOR THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE (NAACP). SWEATT’S CASE ENDED IN THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT WITH A VICTORY, DECLARING THAT HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS MUST BE OPENED TO AFRICAN AMERICANS. THE MITCHELLS’ HOSPITALITY IN A PREDOMINANTLY AFRICAN-AMERICAN NEIGHBORHOOD CONTRIBUTED TO EXPANSION OF CIVIL RIGHTS FOR ALL AMERICAN CITIZENS. |
