■ James Johnson, president of the February One Society, at the Woolworth's lunch counter
Remembering Feb. 1,1960
By LEX ALEXANDER
Staff Writer
As Greensboro community leaders prepare
for the celebration they hope will put the city
on the world stage next February, a 10-year-
old organization with little public image, no
membership roll and no dues is in the thick of
the planning.
The February One Society, headed by sociology professor James C. Johnson of N.C. A&T
State University, will spearhead commemoration of the Feb. 1, 1960, sit-in. That's when
four A&T freshmen sat at a whites-only lunch
counter in the downtown Woolworth's, spawning the sit-in movement against segregated
public facilities. The incident is credited with
revitalizing the civil rights movement.
Johnson, who ran unsuccessfully for Greensboro mayor in 1983 and is a former chairman of
the Greensboro Human Relations Commission,
estimates his group has about 75 participants.
He has been society president since 1985.
The society has formed a steering committee
to plan the 30th anniversary of the sit-ins next
February. That steering committee, which includes representatives of A&T, the city of
Greensboro, Bennett College and other institu
tions and organizations, met three times in
July and will continue meeting into the fall
Every year since 1979, the society has observed the Feb. 1 anniversary. In 1985, it
observed the 25th anniversary of the first sit-in
with a dinner program that honored the four
participants in the original sit-in, Franklin
McCain, Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair Jr. (now
Jibreel Khazan) and David Richmond.
"We felt that was one of the greatest movements of the 20th century to bring about equity
and equality," Johnson said. "The fallout included, ultimately, the Civil Rights Act of
1964."
Since 1982, the society also has given "One
Community" awards to individuals who have
helped improve human relations in Greensboro.
Past winners have included Willa Player,
president of Bennett College when the sit-ins
began; William D. Snider, former executive
editor of the News & Record; and Ralph Johns,
the former Greensboro resident credited with
encouraging Richmond, McCain, McNeil and
Blair to begin the sit-ins.
"We began to look at what the society could
do to embellish human relations, to pull our
community together as a community and, to'
the extent possible, eliminate polarization,"-
Johnson said.
After the 1979 Klan-Nazi shootout in which
five members of the Communist Workers Party died, and the racially divisive 1981 municipal
elections, that sort of measure was needed,
Johnson said.
"Greensboro had become the world stage for
demonstrations ... that did nothing more than
polarize the community and keep the city fa- I
thers on the defensive," Johnson said.
Johnson believes that's why the time is particularly ripe to recognize the achievements of
the civil rights movement.
"It's time to give Greensboro — and A&T —
the recognition they deserve," Johnson said.
"Too many people think anything of national
consequence must come from Chicago or New
York or some other larger cities.
"While Greensboro was ... not supportive of
the movement in 1960 — and we were not
different from other cities across the country
— the city now is looking at it as, 'This is the
opportunity to redeem ourselves so we can lift
our heads as high as anyone else in the coun
