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Daring act by four teenagers tumbles racial barriers
This was one bull session that produced history instead of hot air.
It was about 3 in the morning, Feb. 1, 1960.
The setting was Room 2128 in Scott Hall, a
dormitory on the N.C. A&T State University
campus.
J First-year students David Richmond, Frank-
^^jrTi McCain, Ezell Blair Jr. and Joseph McNeil
had spent that night, and many evenings before, complaining about what it was like being
black in Greensboro and the South.
'We finally felt we were being hypocritical
because we were doing the same thing that
everyone else had done, nothing," says McCain, now an executive with Celanese Corp. in
Charlotte. "Up to then, we were armchair
activists."
They decided to go downtown that day and
seek service at F.W. Woolworth's whites-only
lunch counter.
And they did.
History remembers them as four brave
young men, but seated at the counter 25 years
ago, they were four frightened freshmen.
"I could feel my legs and hands trembling,"
recalls Blair, who now lives in New Bedford,
Mass., and goes by the name Jibreel Khazan.
"I was perspiring. I really had to go to the
bathroom bad. You can't image what it was
like, being 17, Afro-American, sitting in a position like that, expecting the worst."
They knew such audacity would shock
Greensboro. But they had no idea the event
would spark similiar sit-ins at segregated lunch
counters all over the South or become the subject of books or later cause the state of North
Carolina to erect a commemorative historical
marker in downtown Greensboro.
The sit-ins and related sidewalk demonstrations downtown lasted off and on for nearly six
months. The movement came to involve
(See Challenge, A7)
Object Description
| Title | Daring act by four teenagers tumbles racial barriers |
| Date | 1985-01-27 |
| Creator | Schlosser, Jim |
| Contributors | Harris, Clarence Lee |
| Subject headings | Greensboro Sit-ins, Greensboro, N.C., 1960 |
| Topics | Business desegregation and sit-ins, 1960 |
| Place | Greensboro (N.C.) |
| Description |
Written twenty five years after the Greensboro sit-ins at Woolworth's, this article was published in the Greensboro News & Record and examines the event itself, as well as the effect it had on the Greensboro community at large. Schlosser describes an acceptance of segregation at the time largely because it was the traditional practice and had not been challenged, so many thought it was appropriate. In addition to statements from the sit-in participants, the piece also includes statements from white entrepreneur, Ralph Johns, who owned a store downtown that welcomed black customers. Johns takes credit for inspiring the sit-in participants. Also quoted is former police officer E.R. Wynn, who was involved in securing Woolworth's after the demonstrations started. Ed Zane, a former Greensboro city councilman who served as a mediator between the store and the students, and Geneva Tisdale, who worked at Woolworth's at the time of the sit-ins, are also quoted. This article was saved in a scrapbook by Clarence "Curly" Harris, manager of the Greensboro Woolworth store at the time of the 1960 sit-ins. Also included is Harris� handwritten response to the article disputing some information in it, such as the assertion that he was "outraged" at the students' actions. |
| Type | text |
| Original format | clippings;scrapbooks |
| Original dimensions | 9" x 11" |
| Original publisher | [Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified] |
| Language | en |
| Contributing institution | Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries |
| Source collection | MSS141 Clarence Lee Harris Papers, circa 1916-1997 |
| Series/grouping | 6 Scrapbooks |
| Box | 3 |
| Folder | Folder 3: Scrapbook 8: Sit In, 25 Year Anniversary, 1985 |
| Finding aid link | http://libapps.uncg.edu/archon/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=506 |
| Rights statement | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Additional rights information | IN COPYRIGHT. This item is subject to copyright. Contact the contributing institution for permission to reuse. |
| Object ID | MSS0141.003.003.0937 |
| Digital publisher | The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5305 -- http://library.uncg.edu/ |
| Sponsor | LSTA grant administered by the North Carolina State Library -- http://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/ld/grants/lsta.html |
| OCLC number | 884368003 |
Page/Item Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Full text | Daring act by four teenagers tumbles racial barriers This was one bull session that produced history instead of hot air. It was about 3 in the morning, Feb. 1, 1960. The setting was Room 2128 in Scott Hall, a dormitory on the N.C. A&T State University campus. J First-year students David Richmond, Frank- ^^jrTi McCain, Ezell Blair Jr. and Joseph McNeil had spent that night, and many evenings before, complaining about what it was like being black in Greensboro and the South. 'We finally felt we were being hypocritical because we were doing the same thing that everyone else had done, nothing" says McCain, now an executive with Celanese Corp. in Charlotte. "Up to then, we were armchair activists." They decided to go downtown that day and seek service at F.W. Woolworth's whites-only lunch counter. And they did. History remembers them as four brave young men, but seated at the counter 25 years ago, they were four frightened freshmen. "I could feel my legs and hands trembling" recalls Blair, who now lives in New Bedford, Mass., and goes by the name Jibreel Khazan. "I was perspiring. I really had to go to the bathroom bad. You can't image what it was like, being 17, Afro-American, sitting in a position like that, expecting the worst." They knew such audacity would shock Greensboro. But they had no idea the event would spark similiar sit-ins at segregated lunch counters all over the South or become the subject of books or later cause the state of North Carolina to erect a commemorative historical marker in downtown Greensboro. The sit-ins and related sidewalk demonstrations downtown lasted off and on for nearly six months. The movement came to involve (See Challenge, A7) |
