When H. Councill Trenholm wrote that "we have a long way to go", he fully understood the barriers that African-Americans faced in securing educational equity in the twentieth century, particularly in the segregated South. He also was keenly aware of the importance of education to community development, human development, and self-actualisation. Trenholm excelled at building civic capacity by leveraging institutions and organisations. As a teacher, professor, teacher association leader and college president, he had a remarkable career marked by steady progress in strengthening a teacher corps and an institution of higher education, Alabama State, but he also faced crushing disappointments. This case study examines Trenholm's vision and roles in expanding educational opportunity as the president of a major, state-funded, segregated college, mobilising support of the National Education Association, nurturing the American Teachers Association, and persuading the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools to agree to review and accredit African-American colleges and high schools. (Contains 93 footnotes.)