• 1944 Smith v. Allwright - William Hastie and Thurgood Marshall argued succesfully before the Supreme Court against a Texas law that barred blacks from participating in Democratic primary election - Supremem Court struck down the Texas law 8-1
• 1945 Morgan v. Virginia - Hatie and Marshall argued successfully that Virginia could not require racial segregation on interstate buses - Irene Morgan had been travelling from Virginia to Baltimore and refused to give up her seat to whites or move to the back of the bus (10 years before Rosa Parks in Montgomery) - followed by the interracial "Journey of Reconciliation" to publicize the Morgan decision
• 1945 James Farmer "sat in" a Chicago restaurant that refused him service - polic called but Farmer cited an Illinois law that forbade discrimination in public places
• 1946 - in Feb. the Navy lifted all racial restrictions, but opposed by lower ranks and Navy kept its quota for black enlistments
• 1946 - Sgt. Isaac Woodward was blinded by a nightstick while at a bus stop in South Carolina - became a national issue due to NAACP and Orson Welles - shocked President Truman - became federal case because took place at a bus stop used by interstate transportation and Woodwar was in uniform - Federal Judge J. Waties Waring presided over the trial of Sheriff Linwood Shull, but the sheriff was freed by racist jury.

Links:

• Truman Library
• Desegregation of Armed Forces