In this fascinating insight into “segregation scholarships” for Black students in the post-Brown v. Board era, Crystal R. Sanders examines how Black graduate students used these scholarships to further their education and the challenges placed in their paths to finishing their graduate education. Focusing on the issues with out-of-state graduate programs and the slow integration of graduate programs at southern universities, Sanders explores the remnants of segregation in higher education institutions and their evolution into new systems of racial inequality and the systemic underfunding of public Black colleges. A powerful and troubling narrative, the individual narratives and the larger systemic issues at play here are described and brought to life in a powerful way. Sanders’ familiarity with the topic and the incredible way she presents the information engage readers with this relatively recent history totally excluded from discussions of American higher education and their conversations around racial inequality in the higher education system. With incredible historical detail and powerful personal narratives, this is a complex and brilliant read that historians and academics absolutely need to read. Complex, detailed, and powerful, Sanders has done a brilliant job bringing this topic to life and giving it the attention and detail it deserves.

During segregation, African Americans could seek higher education and professional training in the South only at Black schools, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities. However, while some Black colleges offered advanced degrees, places for students were limited. Most lacked the funding, courses and range of degree programs available at state-supported white schools. Any African Americans who desired post baccalaureate studies, had to travel outside Southern States to pursue them.Instead of making the Great Migration a one-way trip, these academics and professionals–returned to the Jim Crow South, where they applied their knowledge towards strengthening southern Black communities and helped to end segregation in America.They used intellectual warfare to dispel notions of Black inferiority.African American students had to deal with segregation in travel and housing whilst interstate.They battled racism, isolation, and homesickness. Even though states outside the South didn't have Jim Crow laws, they did practice defacto segregation.African American students weren't welcome in college/uni clubs and societies, as well as facilities. Convinced of the critical importance of expanding access to education, African Americans pushed back against the status quo.The legal branch of the NAACP, known as the Legal Defense and Education Fund (LDF), increased its efforts at forcing states to provide greater equity between Black and white schools e.g. Murray v. Pearson, Sweatt v. Painter, McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents, Sipuel v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma,Hocutt v. Wilson, Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada, but court victories mean nothing without vigorous enforcement. Southern governments remained stubbornly committed to segregation, but in response to growing pressure from the courts, they began to make concessions.Since creating separate Black graduate and professional schools was expensive, Southern governments provided out-of-state tuition vouchers or "segregation scholarships" by appropriating funds, to Black students who wished to pursue graduate studies.Educational desegregation continued in the 1960s-1970s.

This was a really informative book. I knew Black people were kept out of higher education post reconstruction but I didn’t know the entire history of southern states paying to send Black students to other states in order to keep them out of the south. My only gripe about this book is that I wish it read more like a story rather than a bunch of facts. Obviously the facts are very well researched but after a while, the book felt like it dragged for me.

The academic migration of southern blacks to graduate schools in the north upheld the southern states idea of separate but equal illusion. Forcing gifted students to seek higher degrees outside the south, only made this students want to return and apply their knowledge to their home states. A hidden for of segregation everyone should learn about.

This was an excellent work that was extremely informative regarding the formation, proliferation, and cultural necessity of HBCUs. Sanders combination of migration and education history was brilliantly blended. I feel this was a great addition to the scholarship on African American migration. Works like "The Warmth of Other Suns" often focus on economic motivations as workers fled the South for 'unskilled' industrial work in the North and West. but Sanders adds a brilliant dimension by showing the migration of academic intellect as these courageous students forged pathways for African Americans in white-collar work. A fascinating read.