Black Legal Pioneer Remembered

TEXARKANA, Ark. -- Sixty years after becoming the first black to study law at a public university in the South, the late Silas Hunt got his degree from the University of Arkansas.

Hunt died of tuberculosis before earning his law degree, but the Fayetteville campus has granted him the honor posthumously, the Texarkana Gazette reported Saturday.

Law school Dean Cynthia Nance said the college wanted to honor Hunt on the 60th anniversary of his enrollment, so they planned a program called "Sixty Since Silas."

"In the context of having those discussions and planning, the question was asked, 'Did we ever give him an honorary degree?' And everyone started checking and checking and the answer was no," Nance told the Gazette. "So the faculty voted ... and we were able to get it done in this very significant year."

Hunt enrolled in the law school in 1948 after a stint in the Army and an injury in the Battle of the Bulge. He was forced to attend segregated classes in the basement and died in 1949.

"It was important for him personally, but he also knew that he was opening a door for so many people behind him," Nance said.

Since his death, the law school has named a building after Hunt. The state Legislature also honored him by approving Feb. 2 as a memorial day in his name.