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Greensboro, N.C, Monday, Jan. 29, 1990
Spotlight to shine on sit-in participants
By JIM SCHLOSSER
Staff Writer
Heads turn as the thin, bearded man enters the
Woolworth Store on South Elm Street in
Greensboro. Ima Edwards, the lunch counter
manager who first saw the man 30 years ago, greets
him with a hug.
A few customers leave their coffee mugs to come
shake his hand. A young woman seated at the
counter is baffled about the man's identity. Someone
whispers to her.
"Oh, really," she exclaims, impressed.
David Richmond is sitting down again at the
Woolworth lunch counter. He asks for coffee. This
time the service is quick and gracious.
Exactly 30 years ago this Thursday, Richmond
and three fellow freshmen at N.C. A&T State
University climbed onto stools there and were
denied service. A white waitress asked if they
would please go to the colored stand-up counter
across the way.
No, we won't, the four replied politely. They sat.
And made history. Soon, lunch counter sit-ins to rid
restaurants of discrimination were taking place
throughout the South.
Now, Richmond gets VIP treatment when he
■ Sit-in anniversary schedule — A4
occasionally stops by Woolworth for coffee.
"None whatsoever," Richmond says when asked if
any hard feelings linger.
"It was just an accepted policy at the time," he
says of segregation. "All the stores downtown were
doing it. I commend Woolworth for being first to
end it. All the other stores later followed."
The Woolworth quartet — Richmond, Franklin
McCain, Ezell Blair Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan) and
Joseph McNeil — are national civil rights heroes.
McCain, Blair and Richmond had known each
other at Greensboro's Dudley High School, and they
wound up at A&T together, where they met
McNeil, from Wilmington.
Richmond is the only one who has remained in
Greensboro. McCain lives in Charlotte, McNeil in
New York and Blair in Massachusetts.
They stay In touch and get together for sit-in
anniversaries. This week, the biggest reunion yet —
the 30th — takes place. The four will attend
banquets and a concert, hear speeches and sit in
(See Sit-ins, A4)
Scott Hoffmann/News & Record
Sit-in participant David Richmond talks about his
experiences at the Woolworth lunch counter
Greensboro News & Record, Monday, January 29, 1990
<
i
Object Description
| Title | Spotlight to shine on sit-in participants |
| Date | 1990-01-29 |
| Date approximate? | 2 |
| Creator | Schlosser, Jim |
| Subject headings | Greensboro Sit-ins, Greensboro, N.C., 1960 |
| Topics | Business desegregation and sit-ins, 1960 |
| Place | Greensboro (N.C.) |
| Description | This January 20, 1990 artcle by Jim Schlosser appeared in the January 29, 1990 Greensboro News & Record, and consists of an interview with David Richmond, one of the original four participants in the 1960 sit-ins at the Greensboro Woolworth store. Richmond discusses his memories of the discrimination he faced as a youth and of the sit-ins themselves. He recounts that he was the last of the four to be seated and then discusses the actions of Woolworth's manager Clarence "Curly" Harris, who, Richmond says, attempted to get the police to remove the students but would not sign a warrant, and therefore simply closed the store early instead. Richmond also discusses his life after the sit-ins and his recent termination from a local nursing home for unspecified reasons. The article was published in connection with the thirtieth anniversary of the sit-ins.This article was clipped and saved in a scrapbook by Clarence "Curly" Harris, manager of the Greensboro Woolworth store at the time of the 1960 sit-ins. |
| 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 4: Scrapbook 9: Remembering Feb. 1, 1960, 1972-1989 |
| 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 | MSS0141.003.004.0922 |
| 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 | 884368207 |
Page/Item Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Full text | Greensboro, N.C, Monday, Jan. 29, 1990 Spotlight to shine on sit-in participants By JIM SCHLOSSER Staff Writer Heads turn as the thin, bearded man enters the Woolworth Store on South Elm Street in Greensboro. Ima Edwards, the lunch counter manager who first saw the man 30 years ago, greets him with a hug. A few customers leave their coffee mugs to come shake his hand. A young woman seated at the counter is baffled about the man's identity. Someone whispers to her. "Oh, really" she exclaims, impressed. David Richmond is sitting down again at the Woolworth lunch counter. He asks for coffee. This time the service is quick and gracious. Exactly 30 years ago this Thursday, Richmond and three fellow freshmen at N.C. A&T State University climbed onto stools there and were denied service. A white waitress asked if they would please go to the colored stand-up counter across the way. No, we won't, the four replied politely. They sat. And made history. Soon, lunch counter sit-ins to rid restaurants of discrimination were taking place throughout the South. Now, Richmond gets VIP treatment when he ■ Sit-in anniversary schedule — A4 occasionally stops by Woolworth for coffee. "None whatsoever" Richmond says when asked if any hard feelings linger. "It was just an accepted policy at the time" he says of segregation. "All the stores downtown were doing it. I commend Woolworth for being first to end it. All the other stores later followed." The Woolworth quartet — Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan) and Joseph McNeil — are national civil rights heroes. McCain, Blair and Richmond had known each other at Greensboro's Dudley High School, and they wound up at A&T together, where they met McNeil, from Wilmington. Richmond is the only one who has remained in Greensboro. McCain lives in Charlotte, McNeil in New York and Blair in Massachusetts. They stay In touch and get together for sit-in anniversaries. This week, the biggest reunion yet — the 30th — takes place. The four will attend banquets and a concert, hear speeches and sit in (See Sit-ins, A4) Scott Hoffmann/News & Record Sit-in participant David Richmond talks about his experiences at the Woolworth lunch counter Greensboro News & Record, Monday, January 29, 1990 < i |
