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| The Greensboro Four |
On February 2, 1960 Ezell A. Blair Jr., David Richmond, Joseph McNeil and Franklin McCain - four African-American students at North Carolina A & T University in Greensboro - began a sit-in at the F.W. Woolworth lunch counter. [
Here's a timeline of the demonstration].
They had been meeting privately, discussing the issue of segregation, and decided to do something about it.
These four young men walked into the Woolworth store around 4:30 that afternoon, sat down at the "Whites Only" lunch counter, ordered coffee and were refused service. They remained at the counter until closing time.
The next day twenty-five men and four women went back to the Woolworth lunch counter with them. This time white patrons heckled them as a TV camera caught the demonstration, along with reporters from both local newspapers. Once the news of the sit-in spread, a Student Executive Committee for Justice was formed to plan future demonstrations. The NAACP lent their support as well. And Blair, Richmond, McNeil and McCain became known as the Greensboro Four.
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| Ezell Blair Jr./Jibrell Khazan |
By Wednesday, February 3, more than sixty students, one-third of them female, joined the sit-in. Students carpooled to the Woolworth store in shifts. The KKK showed up and the national headquarters of F.W. Woolworth issued a statement that their policy towards segregation "would abide by local custom."
By Thursday, February 4 more than three hundred students (from No. Carolina A & T, Bennett College and Dudley High School) joined in the protest. Some students went to SH Kress Co.'s lunch counter to spread the sit-in.
Within a few days, the sit-in movement had quickly spread to Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and even the Woolworth store in New York City. By Easter weekend of April 16-17 a meeting of sit-in leaders was held at Shaw University in Raleigh, NC, making it a national movement.
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| David Richmond |
On July 25, F.W. Woolworth in Greensboro began to serve all customers, regardless of color. Four Woolworth's employees became the first African-Americans to be served there. The same day The Kress store's lunch counter in Greensboro became integrated.
By August, 1961 over 70,000 people had participated in sit-ins, mostly in the south - at "Whites Only" lunch counters, kneel-ins at segregated churches, sleep-ins in segregated motel lobbies, swim-ins at segregated pools, read-ins at segregated libraries and play-ins at segregated parks.
The Greensboro Four had begun a movement that ultimately spread across the US, resulting in major efforts to integrate public institutions.
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| Joseph McNeil |
All of the Greensboro Four found difficulty staying in Greensboro after graduation, being labeled as troublemakers. Ezell Blair, Jr. moved to Massachusetts to attend the New England Conservatory of Music. He eventually worked as a teacher and counselor to developmentally challenged individuals in New Bedford. In 1968 he joined the Islamic Center of New England, changing his name to Jibrell Khazan.
Franklin McCain was originally from Washington, D.C., moving south to attend North Carolina A&T. He earned bachelor's degrees in biology and chemistry and a master's from that institution. After graduation McNeil moved to Charlotte, NC where he worked for Celanese Corporation for thirty-five years. McNeil died in 2014 from respiratory complications
Joseph McNeil joined the Air Force after graduating from North Carolina A&T. He had a thirty-seven year career in the military, retiring with the rank of Major General.
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| Franklin McCain |
David Richmond was the only member of the Greensboro Four who returned to the town to live. Nine years after his graduation he came back to take care of his ailing mother. Eventually, Richmond found work as a housekeeping partner at the Greensboro Health Care Center. Richmond died in 1990 of lung cancer, at 49 years of age. At his memorial service, Richmond was awarded a posthumous Doctor of Humanities degree from his alma mater.
All of the Greensboro Four had the trajectory of their lives changed by their involvement in the sit-in movement. They influenced an entire national movement that eventually resulted in the integration of thousands of public spaces in the south and elsewhere.
Photo Credits: mostly from Wikepedia
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