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Section of Lunch Counter from Greensboro, North Carolina Woolworth's now at Smithsonian Institution
Section of Lunch Counter from Greensboro, North Carolina Woolworth's now at Smithsonian Institution

The Greensboro sit-ins were an instrumental action in the African-American Civil Rights Movement, leading to increased national sentiment at a crucial period in American history. The F W Woolworth Company (often referred to as Woolworth's) was a retail company that was one of the original American five-and-dime stores The Smithsonian Institution (smɪθsoʊnɪən is an educational and research institute and associated Museum complex administered and funded by the Government of The American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968 refers to the reform movements in the United States aimed at abolishing racial discrimination against African [1]


Contents

Actions at Woolworth's

On February 1, 1960, four African American students -- Ezell A. Blair Jr. (now known as Jibreel Khazan), David Richmond, Joseph McNeil, and Franklin McCain -- from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, a historical black college/university, sat at a segregated lunch counter in the Greensboro, North Carolina Woolworth's store. Events 1327 - Teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa Ezell A Blair Jr is an African American Civil rights activist who was one of the Greensboro Four. North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University ( NC A&T) is a HBCU historically black college/university and is a constituent institution of the University The F W Woolworth Company (often referred to as Woolworth's) was a retail company that was one of the original American five-and-dime stores This lunch counter only had chairs/stools for whites, while blacks had to stand and eat. Although they were refused service, they were allowed to stay at the counter. The next day there was a total of 27 students at the Woolworth lunch counter for the sit in. On the third day, there were 300 activists, and later, around 1000. [2]

This protest sparked sit-ins and economic boycotts that became a hallmark of the American civil rights movement. A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more persons nonviolently occupying an area for a Protest, often to promote political social A boycott is a form of Consumer activism involving the act of voluntarily abstaining from using buying or dealing with someone or some other organization as an expression of The American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968 refers to the reform movements in the United States aimed at abolishing racial discrimination against African

According to McCain,

"Some way through, an old white lady, who must have been 75 or 85, came over and put her hands on my shoulders and said, 'Boys I am so proud of you. You should have done this 10 years ago. '"[3]

Impact

In just two months the sit-in movement spread to 15 cities in 9 states. Other stores, such as the one in Atlanta, moved to desegregate.

The media picked up this issue and covered it nationwide. The Greensboro sit-ins played a large role in spreading the civil rights movement to a larger audience and dramatizing segregation at a time when many, especially in the North, were not fully aware of its scope. The Greensboro sit-ins inspired civil rights groups to take up this tactic and use it to publicize segregation - beginning with lunch counters and spreading to other forms of public accommodation, including transport facilities, art galleries, beaches, parks, swimming pools, libraries, and even museums around the South. [4] The Civil Rights Act of 1964 mandated desegregation in public accommodations. Origins The bill was introduced by President John F Kennedy in his civil rights speech of June 11 1963, in which he asked for legislation "giving

In 1993, a portion of the lunch counter was donated to the Smithsonian Institution. The Smithsonian Institution (smɪθsoʊnɪən is an educational and research institute and associated Museum complex administered and funded by the Government of The Greensboro Historical Museum contains four chairs from the Woolworth counter along with photos of the original four protesters, a timeline of the events, and headlines from the media. This sit-in inspired all the others during and after the Civil Rights Movement.

Several documentaries have been produced about these men who sparked the sit in movement, including PBS' "February One"[5]

Previous sit-ins

The sit-in movement used the strategy of nonviolent resistance, which originated in Gandhi's Indian independence movement and was later brought to the Civil Rights movement by Martin Luther King. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi ( Gujarati: મોહનદાસ કરમચંદ ગાંધી moɦən̪d̪äs kəɾəmʧən̪d̪ gän̪d̪ʱi (2 October 1869 – 30 January Martin Luther King Jr ( January 15, 1929 April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, Activist and prominent leader This was not the first sit-in to challenge racial segregation. As far back as 1942, the Congress of Racial Equality sponsored sit-ins in Chicago, St. Louis in 1949 and Baltimore in 1952. However, the Greensboro sit-in was far more successful. [6]

References

  1. ^ First Southern Sit-in, Greensboro NC ~ Civil Rights Movement Veterans
  2. ^ The Woolworth Sit-In That Launched a Movement National Public Radio
  3. ^ Gary Younge, "The act that gave the struggle new life". McCain has described the same event for National Public Radio, broadcast on All Things Considered, February 1, 2008.
  4. ^ Sit-ins Spread Across the South ~ Civil Rights Movement Veterans
  5. ^ "February One".
  6. ^ Davis, Townsend (1998). Weary Feet, Rested Souls: A Guided History of the Civil Rights Movement. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 311. ISBN 0393045927.  

See also

External links

The American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968 refers to the reform movements in the United States aimed at abolishing racial discrimination against African This is a timeline of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. The F W Woolworth Company (often referred to as Woolworth's) was a retail company that was one of the original American five-and-dime stores February One The Story of the Greensboro Four is a 2003 short film by Rebecca Cerese and Steven Channing. The American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968 refers to the reform movements in the United States aimed at abolishing racial discrimination against African
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