Rubey Mosley Hulen

Rubey Mosley Hulen (July 9, 1894 – July 7, 1956) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. In July 1950, Hulen issued an injunction requiring the City of St. Louis, Missouri to open its fairgrounds and Marquette swimming pools to swimmers of all races.

Education and career

Born in Hallsville, Missouri, Hulen graduated from Kansas City School of Law (now the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law) in 1914. He was in private practice in Centralia, Missouri from 1915 to 1917. He was in the United States Army as Lieutenant Commander from 1917 to 1918. He was prosecuting attorney of Boone County, Missouri from 1920 to 1924. He was in private practice in St. Louis, Missouri from 1919 to 1943.

Federal judicial service

Hulen was nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on July 8, 1943, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri vacated by Judge Charles B. Davis. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 8, 1943, and received his commission on July 14, 1943. Hulen served in that capacity until his death on July 7, 1956. Hulen observed that a comparable pool "may mitigate discrimination but would not validate it as to other sections of the city."

Author Jeff Wiltse remarks that "Hulen seemed to be saying that a black swimmer who had to walk past a whites-only pool to get to a truly equal Jim Crow pool would not be receiving equal treatment under the law, as mandated by the Fourteenth Amendment."

This is the essence of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, that a black student should not have to travel to a more distant segregated school. In that case, the plaintiff's daughter, Linda, a third grader, had to walk six blocks to her school bus stop to ride to Monroe Elementary, her segregated black school one mile away, while Sumner Elementary School, a white school, was only seven blocks from her house.

Scholarships

Rubey M. Hulen Memorial Honor Scholarships are awarded each year to outstanding entering University of Missouri–Kansas City law students from a fund provided by the will of Anna Hulen, widow of Rubey M. Hulen, a distinguished alumnus of the University of Missouri - Kansas City.