Mini History Fair Paper

By Chris Buchalo

In 1960 segregation between blacks and whites was coming to a boiling point
with all the violence, lynchings and riots. People in the South were tired of waiting for
laws to change. Four black college students wanted a non-violent way of protesting.
This is the story of one of the most well-known sit-ins in U.S. history because of how
fast it caught on with other protesters. It was on Feb 1st, 1960 when four African
American college students sat down and waited to be served in Greensboro, North
Carolina. The sit-ins helped many people join the movement because of the media and
the non-violent idea.
Their names were Franklin McCain, David Richmond, Ezell Blair Jr and Joseph
McNeil (Aretha 11). They were all students at A&T college (Aretha 11). The servers at
the restaurant refused to wait on them because they were black and it was a white only
lunch counter. The store owner called the police because he wanted them to leave. The
officer came and didnt do anything but because they werent breaking any laws so he
left (Pinkney 8). The owner of the place turned off the lights and said it was closed so
the four went home to dinner (Pinkney 10).
McNeil was the one who suggested this idea. There actually was a strategy
behind the selection of where they were going to protest. If they protested at a Macys

store in New York, they wouldnt have gotten as much publicity (Herr 59). He chose
Woolworths because it was popular with many people. It was popular because it had a
variety of items that were cheap (Herr 59).
The night after they had their first sit-in, they organized an emergency meeting
(Herr 65). The four agreed that the protest could easily get out of hand (Herr 65). They
gathered key student leaders together and formed the Student Executive Committee
(Herr 65). Eighteen students joined the committee and came up with basic non-violence
rules. They made Ezell the chairman and together agreed that non-violence was key
(Herr 65).
Their sit-in on February 1st was covered in the local newspaper. So, the next
day, 27 black and white students showed up to the same lunch counter in Woolworths to
protest together (Miller 9). After that, on February 3rd, 63 of the 66 seats were filled with
protesters of both races in Woolworths (Miller 9). Everyone sat quietly and waited to be
served and some studied for school (Pinkney 9).
News of the sit-ins was quickly spreading. Sit-ins started to happen in big cities
such as Hampton, Nashville and Atlanta (Pinkney 17). By March, sit-ins were occurring
in almost 70 Southern cities(Miller 9).
The outcome for the sit-ins was that they made a lot more people want to join the
protest. The sit-ins showed that a non-violent method of protesting worked. The media,
such as newspapers and television, helped people around the country realize how they
can help and make a difference (Pinkney 22). President Kennedy went on TV and told

people about the situation and motivated them to treat everyone fairly (Pinkney 29). An
estimated 70,000 people had participated in a sit-in in the U.S. (Dummies). That
shows how many more people got involved.
Sit-ins helped the movement because the media publicised what was happening.
People living in the U.S. realized how bad it was and were inspired to help. This is
important because the sit-ins brought the movement forward and helped people
understand that segregation was discriminatory.