Greensboro sit-ins
On February 1, 1960, four African American students (Ezell Blair, Jr., David Richmond, Joseph McNeil, and Franklin McCain) from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College, an all black college, sat down at a segregated lunch counter in the Greensboro, North Carolina Woolworth's store. This lunch counter was open to all, but only served whites. Although they were refused service, they were allowed to stay at the counter, sparking off sit-ins and economic boycotts that were a landmark of the American civil rights movement. These 4 students followed Martin Luther King's idea of peaceful protest. The first sit in caused the lunch counter to close early and the students were treated as idols in the movement. The very next day there was a total of 24 students at the Woolworth lunch counter for the sit in. In just two months the sit-in movement spread to 54 cities in 9 states. Six months after the sit-ins began, the original four protesters were served lunch at the same Woolworth's counter. Sit-ins would be effective throughout the South in integrating other public facilities. In 1993, the lunch counter was donated to the Smithsonian Institution. This sit-in inspired all the others during the Civil Rights Movement.
Several documentaries have been produced about these men who sparked the sit in movement, including PBS' "Februrary One" [1].
See also
- Nashville ins
- American Civil Movement
- American Civil Rights Movement line
- F.W. Woolworth Company
- Friendship onehundred
External links
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