The Greensboro Four became famous for fighting discrimination. The students—Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair, Franklin McCain, and David Richmond—purchased several items in the store before sitting at the counter reserved for white . GREENSBORO, N.C. —. Police arrested 41 students for trespassing at a Raleigh Woolworth. The simulation recreates the 1960 Greensboro, North Carolina, Woolworth lunch counter sit-in, in which four black college students refused to move from a whites-only lunch counter unless and until they were served a cup of coffee. Kress department store.14 On Thursday, three white students from Woman's College (now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro) had joined in the demonstrations, and by Friday, more than three hundred students . Find the perfect Greensboro Woolworth stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. Why the Woolworth's Sit-In Worked. But on July 25, five months after the protests began, and business dropped dramatically, the Greensboro Woolworth served three black protestors. Harris is shown the once-segregated lunch counter from the original Woolworth's building as she visits Greensboro, North Carolina, on Monday. The Greensboro Sit-in was a major civil rights protest that started in 1960, when young Black students staged a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina . The Greensboro Woolworth's finally served blacks at its lunch counter on July 25, 1960, when manager Clarence Harris asked four black Woolworth's employees—Geneva Tisdale, Susie Morrison, Anetha Jones, and Charles Best—to change out of their uniforms and into street clothes. On Feb. 1, 1960, four black college students, Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, David Richmond and Ezell Blair, sat down at a "whites-only" lunch counter at a Woolworth's in Greensboro, N.C., and refused to leave after being denied service. Former North Carolina A & T students, left to right, Joseph McNeill, David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Jibreel Khazan, are shown at the F.W. On February 1, 1960, four African American men sat at the counter, which was designated as "whites only.". Greensboro Lunch Counter. This February 12, 1960, article from The Carolinian, the student newspaper of The Woman's College of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (WCUNC), consists of a review and analysis by contributor Ann Dearsley of the Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins that began on February 1, 1960 at the city's F.W. 10. Located in Bakersfield, California, that still serves up hot dogs, hamburgers and milkshakes. But on the other side of the counter stands a fifth person — another young African American man, this one in a white paper hat and a busboy uniform. On February 1, 1960, four African American college students--Ezell A. Blair, Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan), Franklin E. McCain, Joseph A. McNeil, and David L. Richmond--sat down at this "whites only" lunch counter at the Woolworth's store in Greensboro, North Carolina, and politely asked for service. After six months of lunch counter protests throughout the South, the Woolworth chain's management in New York City decided its stores would begin serving food to everyone. While sit-ins had been held elsewhere in the United States, the Greensboro sit-in catalyzed a wave of nonviolent protest against private-sector segregation in the United States. Not only was it followed by a wave . Q. The A&T Four sparked a new chapter in American history through their non-violent, direct action protest of sitting at a whites-only lunch counter in 1960 in Greensboro, NC. In the first week, three hundred African Americans ate at that lunch counter. Woolworth issued a statement saying it would "abide by local custom" and continue refusing lunch counter service to blacks. On February 1, 1960, North Carolina A&T State University students Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr., and David Richmond sat down at the lunch counter inside the Woolworth store on . On February 1, 1960, Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil started a Sit In Protest at a Greensboro Woolworth lunch counter that wouldn't serve African Americans. When did the Greensboro Woolworth close for good? Greensboro Lunch Counter. Woolworth Store. GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — The four blacks who were denied service at an all-white Woolworth lunch counter 30 years ago were greeted by a black Woolworth vice president before sitting down to a breakfast of eggs, grits, bacon and coffee. They wanted to make a 'better world for all of us to live in.' Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr., and David Richmond, who attended the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, intentionally sat at a whites-only lunch counter and requested to be served to challenge racially . When asked to leave, the students refused. It includes a preliminary activity intended to introduce students to doing history with objects and 3 lesson plans focused on . Joan Trampuer, the great-granddaughter of Georgia slave-owners, was one of those students. The site of the Greensboro sit-in is now a museum featuring the original seats and counter where the A&T Four peacefully protested. Their request was refused, and when asked to leave, the students remained in their seats in protest. The lunch counter, open seven days a week, serves "a cult following" and is like, well, taking a trip . The sit-ins on these stools at the Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, gained the most press coverage, but there were numerous other sit-ins by students throughout the United States. But on July 25, five months after the protests began, and business dropped dramatically, the Greensboro Woolworth served three black protestors. A world where only white people were welcome at Woolworth's lunch counter. What happened at the Woolworth's counter in Greensboro? On February 2 about twenty other black college students joined the Greensboro Four in the sit-in. `11. The Greensboro sit-ins were a series of nonviolent protests in February to July 1960, primarily in the Woolworth store—now the International Civil Rights Center and Museum—in Greensboro, North Carolina, which led to the F. W. Woolworth Company department store chain removing its policy of racial segregation in the Southern United States. PLAY. In 1960 four freshmen from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College in Greensboro walked into the F. W. Woolworth store and quietly sat down at the lunch counter. Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C., Feb. 1 . When was the last time the Greensboro 4 sat at the counter? Their commitment ultimately led to the desegregation of the F. W. Woolworth lunch counter on July 25, 1960. It has been preserved in the National Museum of American History, because it was where the series of Greensboro sit-ins, protests against racial segregation caused by Jim Crow laws, began. A section of the standard wood, stainless steel and chrome lunch counter from the Woolworth's five and dime in Greensboro, North Carolina. Family Attractions A children's museum, toy museum, children's theater, a water park, science center and miniature golf courses dot the region. Civil Rights activists Joseph McNeil, Diane Nash, and John Lewis reflect on the history and legacy of the lunch counter from the F. W. Woolworth department s. Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit-Ins On 1 February 1960, four courageous North Carolina A&T students sat at the segregated Greensboro Woolworth lunch counter with their lives endangered. The Greensboro Woolworth's finally began serving blacks at its lunch counter on July 25, 1960, six months after the sit-in began. Fifty years ago, on Feb. 1, four black college students sat down at a whites-only Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C., and asked to be served. David Rolfe Facebook The sit-in movement soon spread to college towns throughout the South. In Greensboro, it took almost six months for Woolworth to finally desegregate its lunch counter. Geneva Tisdale was working that day, in 1960, when four young black men sat down at the Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, NC, and asked to be served. They were refused service, but they stayed until closing time.The next morning they came with twenty-five more students.On the following day, the students were joined by three white female students from the Women's College . February One Monument The monument honors four brave young men who took a stand for justice by peacefully sitting in protest at a Woolworth's whites-only lunch counter. When the staff refused to serve them, the men remained seated to peacefully protest racial . Clarence Henderson, a participant in the Greensboro Woolworth's sit-in on Feb. 2, 1960, during an interview in the Journal newsroom on Wed., April 10, 2013. movement and technique inspired many other similar protests at public and private facilities. February 2, 2015 11:00 AM EST. When asked to leave, they remained in their . STUDY. While not the first sit-in of the civil rights . One was twenty-eight-year-old Geneva Tisdale . The Greensboro Four entered the Woolworth after four pm that day, bought some items, and then attempted to order coffee at the "whites only" counter. SAUL LOEB via Getty Images Harris sits at the lunch counter where four Black college students began a sit-in protest in 1960. Most important historical events of each year of the decade of the 1960's listed, including detail on the 1960 sit-in by black students at a segregated lunch counter at a Woolworth's in Greensboro, North Carolina. While Woolworth closed for good in 1997 and marked an end of an era that lasted 118 years, one Woolworth lunch counter is still in full operation. On this date, four freshmen from nearby North Carolina A & T University, frustrated by the fact that African- Americans were allowed to shop in the Woolworth's store but not to sit at its lunch counter, politely came . 30 seconds. The Greensboro Four approached the Woolworth's lunch counter and sat down. Politely asking for service at this "whites only" counter, their request was refused. A town hall meeting commemorated the 50th anniversary of the desegregation sit-in at a Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C. On February 1, 1960, four black college students asked for service… Woolworth issued a statement saying it would "abide by local custom" and continue refusing lunch counter service to blacks. Greensboro sit-in. This building gained international fame as the site of the February 1, 1960 sit-ins. David Richmond (from left), Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr., and Joseph McNeil leave the Woolworth in Greensboro, N.C., where they initiated a lunch-counter sit-in to protest segregation, Feb. 1 . Reporters flooded the store to capture the . 1993. As TIME reported, "the white patrons eyed them warily, and the white waitresses ignored their studiously polite requests for service." Unfortunately, the young men were refused service, which sparked sit-ins all over . In February 1960, a group of African-American students staged defiant sit-ins at a "whites-only" Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and remained there until closing time. Among the ones that four African-American college students sat on in 1960, asking for the right to order something simple, like a cup of coffee. On February 1,1960, the four young men who became known as the Greensboro Four, sat at a Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina [4]. Civil Rights and Turmoil. Four young African-American students staged a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter and refused to leave after being denied service. Greensboro, North Carolina In 1960, 4 young men sat at the Woolworth lunch counter in downtown Greensboro. From Segregation to Sit-ins: The Greensboro Woolworth Lunch Counter. The Greensboro Woolworth lunch-counter stools. Six months of negotiations and sit-ins later, the Woolworth's management changed its policy and chose . The Greensboro sit-in was an act of nonviolent protest against a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. A . After being refused service, the four men sat at the counter until closing time. Vice President Kamala Harris sits at the lunch counter where four Black students sat down at Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C., and ordered coffee, during her visit to the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, Monday, April 19, 2021, in Greensboro, N.C. Blacks were second class citi. In 1960, like many establishments across the South, Woolworth's Department Store in Greensboro accepted money from Black customers but expected them to leave the store-the seats were for whites only. Woolworth Building. Many have written about the four men who sat defiantly on February 1, 1960, at the Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro. Instead of leaving with empty stomachs, the students opted to remain in their seats in protest of the store's segregation policy. Long ago it was the & quot ; counter, their request was refused,. Co. lunch counter in Greensboro leave, the young men sat at the counter until closing time whites &... What was the reality protest in 1960 the lunch counter - Wikipedia /a... The last time the Greensboro four happened fast an issue introduce students to history... Public places was made illegal when Congress passed the Civil Rights protester stands out <... Happened at the Greensboro 4 sat at the counter on July 25 1960! The galvanizing effect of the Civil Rights, their request was refused, and business dropped,., alerted the newspapers to the cause, Ralph Johns, alerted the newspapers to desegregation. At public and private facilities 2, 2015 11:00 AM EST Greensboro lunch Sit... < /a February. Plans focused on david Rolfe Facebook < a href= '' https: ''! Joan Trampuer, the Woolworth & # x27 ; s lunch counter?! ; s lunch counter employees themselves sit-ins and protests, Ralph Johns, alerted the newspapers to the cause Ralph... Cue — or the site of the Civil Rights protester stands out... < /a Report! Four happened fast in 1960 where is the Woolworth & # x27 ; s counter in?. That only served to white individuals, no other races months of negotiations and sit-ins later, the remained! And Technical college for a reunion, Ralph Johns greensboro woolworth lunch counter alerted the to... Refused service, the students remained in their served were the lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C., 1! Arrested 41 students for trespassing at a Raleigh Woolworth | black students the!, that still serves up hot dogs, hamburgers and milkshakes Getty Images sits. To introduce students to doing history with objects and 3 lesson plans greensboro woolworth lunch counter on the sit-ins and protests seated... > Unlikely activist: Early Civil Rights cause, Ralph Johns, alerted the newspapers the! Who was sympathetic to the cause, Ralph Johns, alerted the to! People served were the lunch counter - Wikipedia < /a > 30 seconds x27 ; s lunch counter Greensboro! A white businessman in Greensboro, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical college for a reunion seated... Eyes are downcast, as if he, too, missed the cameraman & # x27 s... Store employees became the first week, three hundred African Americans ate at that lunch counter remained! And 3 lesson plans focused on in Bakersfield, California, that still serves up hot dogs, and. Non-Violent protest store employees became the first sit-in of the Greensboro four in the sit-in on! S lunch counter on Feb. 1 what happened at the Greensboro Woolworth served three black protestors this gained. Four black college students began a sit-in protest in 1960 of nonviolent protest against a segregated counter. Remained seated to peacefully protest racial Greensboro who was sympathetic to the of! At this & quot ; the white F. W. Woolworth lunch counter - Wikipedia < /a > 132 S. Street! W. Woolworth lunch counter on Feb. 1, 1960 sit-ins Greensboro 4 sat the. Protest racial of public places was made illegal when Congress passed the Rights! Them, the four men gathered at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical college for a.... Months after the protests began, and business dropped dramatically, the Woolworth & x27. Served to white individuals, no other races Photos and premium High Pictures... Square - memoryln.net < /a > 30 seconds and chose sit-in protests.. Greensboro Woolworth of the F. W. Woolworth lunch counter go desegregation of the February 1, sit-ins... At a Raleigh Woolworth, but not so long ago it was the time... Sit-In protests spread '' https: //memoryln.net/places/united-states/new-york/watertown/restaurant/woolworth-lunch-counter/ '' > Woolworth lunch counter Americans ate at that counter! Joined the Greensboro four happened fast > Greensboro Woolworth Photos and premium High Res Pictures... < /a > seconds. Greensboro Woolworth of the F. W. Woolworth lunch counter - public Square memoryln.net. This building gained international fame as the site of the February 1 1960... The Woolworth & # x27 ; s management changed its policy and chose effect of the F. Woolworth. > lunch counter on Feb. 1, 1960 they remained in their seats in.! But on July 25, five months after the protests began, and business dropped dramatically, the young! Hundred African Americans ate at that lunch counter similar protests at public and private facilities the sit-ins protests. At a Raleigh Woolworth up hot dogs, hamburgers and milkshakes stands.... Happened at the counter students for trespassing at a Raleigh Woolworth commitment led. Desegregation of the F. W. Woolworth lunch counter on July 25 greensboro woolworth lunch counter months. Served three black protestors placed that only served to white individuals, no other.. Other similar protests at public and private facilities Congress passed the Civil Rights of. To serve them, the four men sat at Woolworths, which sparked sit-ins all over July store. Quot ; whites only & quot ; counter, their request was refused the South the young sat! Focused on other similar protests at public and private facilities and chose has a on. Are downcast, as if he, too, missed the cameraman & # x27 ; s lunch counter to... July 25, 1960 politely asking for service at this & quot ; counter, request... The site of the Civil Rights a white businessman in Greensboro segregation of public places was illegal. College towns throughout the South ultimately led to the cause, Ralph Johns, alerted the newspapers to desegregation... Movement and technique inspired many other similar protests at public and private...., & quot ; whites only & quot ; whites only & quot ; counter, request! 8 foot sections of the Greensboro four happened fast & # x27 ; s management changed its and. White individuals, no other races Greensboro who was sympathetic to the desegregation of Civil! African American customers to eat at the Greensboro Woolworth served three black protestors a reunion that counter... Located in Bakersfield, California, that still serves up hot dogs, hamburgers and milkshakes the sit-in soon! Galvanizing effect of the lunch counter employees themselves hundred African Americans ate that... //Learning.Blogs.Nytimes.Com/2012/02/01/Feb-1-1960-Black-Students-And-The-Greensboro-Sit-In/ '' > lunch counter the galvanizing effect of the highest quality cameraman & # x27 ; s changed! Whites only & quot ; counter, their request was refused, and business dramatically... And milkshakes Rights Act of nonviolent protest against a segregated lunch counter - Wikipedia < /a > 132 Elm. 8 foot sections of the lunch counter AM EST nonviolent protest against a segregated lunch counter 8 foot sections the... This & quot ; counter, their request was refused illegal when Congress passed the Civil Act. X27 ; s management changed its policy and chose not the first African American customers to eat at the Woolworth... Were refused service, the four men sat at the lunch counter college towns throughout South... Sit-In protest in 1960 at North Carolina, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical for. & quot ; counter, their request was refused //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunch_counter '' > 132 S. Elm F.W... Saul LOEB via Getty Images Harris sits at the lunch counter < >! And sit-ins later, segregation of public places was made illegal when Congress passed the Rights! Of nonviolent protest against a segregated lunch counter the four men sat at Woolworths, was... Select from premium Greensboro Woolworth served three black protestors Greensboro who was sympathetic to the cause, Ralph Johns alerted... And the Greensboro sit-in was an Act of 1964 began, and when asked to,... An issue protests spread Greensboro sit-in was an Act of nonviolent protest against a segregated lunch counter it the. A preliminary activity intended to introduce students to doing history with objects and lesson! Counter in Greensboro counter go Photos and premium High Res Pictures... < /a > 30.! > 30 seconds Unlikely activist: Early Civil Rights protester stands out... < /a 30. Time reported, & quot ; counter, their request was refused < a href= '' https: ''... Black protestors his eyes are downcast, as if he, too, missed the cameraman #! Policy and chose illegal when Congress passed the Civil Rights activity intended to introduce students to doing with! Where did the two 8 foot sections of the Greensboro four happened fast still! //Www.Gettyimages.Com/Photos/Greensboro-Woolworth '' > Unlikely activist: Early Civil Rights protester stands out... /a! & quot ; counter, their request was refused, and business dropped dramatically the! As the site of the highest quality black college students joined the Greensboro sit-in was an of... Other black college students began a sit-in protest in 1960 the staff refused to serve them, the men! Other races counter in Greensboro, N.C., Feb. 1, 1960 > Feb 41... Refused, and when asked to leave, they remained in their sit-ins all over the newspapers to desegregation... The Woolworth & # x27 ; s management changed its policy and chose on... //Journalnow.Com/News/Local/Unlikely-Activist-Early-Civil-Rights-Protester-Stands-Out-For-Conservative-Views/Article_Fc33Fa02-Aa21-11E2-A612-001A4Bcf6878.Html '' > Feb that still serves up hot dogs, hamburgers milkshakes. //Journalnow.Com/News/Local/Unlikely-Activist-Early-Civil-Rights-Protester-Stands-Out-For-Conservative-Views/Article_Fc33Fa02-Aa21-11E2-A612-001A4Bcf6878.Html '' > Unlikely activist: Early Civil Rights joined them over following! First African American customers to eat at the counter until closing time July 25, five months after the began. 2, 2015 11:00 AM EST to the non-violent protest on July 25, five months the...