News In Review
A. & T. STUDENTS PROTEST
SOCIAL INHIBITIONS
by Kyleen Turner
and Betsy Begor
In Greensboro a week or so
three Negro students from A. and
T. College were downtown shopping. After buying school supplies
from other counters at F.
Woolworth's, they decided to have
a cup of coffee before returning
to the college. Upon seating themselves at the lunch counter, the
students were refused service.
This, according to an A. and T.
student, was the precipitating
event, which culminated in many
student meetings and the orderly
and dignified passive resistance
movement in progress in Greensboro at this time.
Starting Monday, February 1,
1960, Negro students sat at the
lunch counter of Woolworth's,
waiting to be served. The next day
around thirty students, men and
women, filled up part of the counter in an effort to get service. By
Wednesday, the movement had
grown, and several G. C. students
joined the students from A. & T.,
stating that their purpose was to
give them moral support and to
learn of the motives and attitudes behind the demonstration.
On Thursday the movement had
spread to S. H. Kress & Co., and
three W. C. students joined the
sitdown at Woolworth's.
"We felt it was our moral obligation to come down here," one
of the students reported to the
press.
"We're behind them all the
way," said another during a television interview.
Quiet Atmosphere
The atmosphere of the scene of
the sitdown was one of relatively
little tension until Thursday when
white young men and teen-agers
appeared and began to block the
aisles and occupied many of the
seats. Abusive words were directed at the Negroes and at the
white supporters, but no retaliation of any kind was evidenced
from the resistors. A male A. & T.
student stated that the resistors
had been directed to ignore any
expressions of hostility and not to
reciprocate in any fashion. Most
of the students simply sat quietly
and study at the bare counter.
Leg-al Aspects
In regard to the legal aspects of
the situation, both state attorney
general, Malcom Seawell, and a
lawyer of Greensboro, Harper J.
Elam III, stated that although
there was no state law or city ordinance forcing a private business
erve an integrated public, the
management had the right to serve
• not to serve persons at their
vn discretion.
The New York manager of
F. W. Woolworth made the statement that it had been the policy
of the company to abide by local
custom and that if local custom
; changed, his company would
submit to that change.
Although the main force was
directed at Woolworth's, by the
end of the week, business at both
the Kress and Woolworth lunch
counters was at an almost standstill, with only soft drinks and
coffee being served to the white
non-supporters, who managed to
obtain seats. The A&T students
reported that they are prepared to
continue their protest until they
In the issue of the Daily News
i February 3, 1960, it was reported that Dr. George C. Sim-
kins, Jr., head of the local chapter of the NAACP, said that "the
NAACP had no previous knowledge of the demonstration," but
that the group will support the
idea completely if any legal action arises as a result.
