Day 15 - 28: February 15 - 28, 1960

Edward R. Zane, a member of the Greensboro City Council, worked with students to reach a compromise. The Mayor agreed to appoint a committee to address the issue, and the protestors agreed to continue negotiations.

Several Greensboro associations, including The Board of Directors of the Greensboro Council of Church Women, the YWCA, and several ministerial alliances came out in favor of integration.

The lunch counters at F.W. Woolworth and Kress stores reopened, but were still segregated. 

By the end of February, the sit-in movement had spread to more than 30 cities in eight states. 

 

Source: http://84472759.weebly.com/-the-sit-in.html

Greensboro was not the first sit-in, but it was the first to be reported across the nation. "As the news spread, so did the movement." (Herr) The news was first reported in Greensboro's city and student papers, and then other North Carolina newspapers carried articles on the sit-in. "On February 15, 1960, the New York Times brought the sit-in to national attention with a front-page headline: 'Negro Sitdowns Stir Fear of Wider Unrest in South.'"

(http://84472759.weebly.com/-the-sit-in.html)

Day 8-14: February 8-14, 1960

On Monday, February 8, 1960, students in Winston-Salem, NC, and Durham, NC, held sit-ins to demonstrate their solidarity with Greensboro students. Sit-in protests quickly followed in North Carolina cities such as Charlotte, Raleigh, Fayetteville, and High Point. The movement also gained momentum and spread to Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and even F.W. Woolworth stores in New York City.

Find the North Carolina cities on this map:

Source: https://www.visitnc.com/cities-regions

Day 6: February 6, 1960

Early that morning, more than 1,400 N.C. A&T students met in Harrison Auditorium. After voting to continue the protest, many headed to the F.W. Woolworth store. They filled every seat as the store opened. A large number of counter protesters showed up as well.

By noon, more than 1,000 people packed the store. 

At 1 p.m., a caller warned a bomb was set to explode at 1:30 p.m. The crowd moved to the Kress store, which immediately closed. Both stores closed in the name of public safety.


That evening at N.C. A&T, a mass rally of 1,600 students voted to suspend demonstrations for two weeks. The college's dean, Dean William Gamble, proclaimed this would give the stores time "to set policies regarding food service for Negro students".

This is what 1600 people would look like (in one place):

Source: https://www.quora.com/Which-are-the-best-theaters-auditoriums-in-Colombia

Day 5: February 5, 1960

Tensions mounted early in the day when 50 white males were seated at the Woolworth counter. Sit-in participants, including white students from area colleges, filled the dozen or so remaining seats. Police removed two white youth from the store for swearing and yelling. By 3 p.m., more than 300 people were present. Members of both races were escorted from the premises. Three whites were arrested and the store closed at 5:30 p.m.

This is what about 300 people looks like!

Source: DA Flickr

Day 4: February 4, 1960

More than 300 students participate in the protests. Students from N.C. A&T, Bennett College, and Dudley High School occupied every seat at the lunch counter. Three white supporters (Genie Seaman, Marilyn Lott and Ann Dearsley) from the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina (now UNCG), joined the protest.

As tensions grew, police kept the crowd in check.

Protesters are harassed but do not fight back (Time Photo)

Waiting students then marched to the basement lunch counter at S.H. Kress & Co., the second store targeted by the Student Executive Committee, and the Greensboro sit-ins spread.

That evening, student leaders, college administrators, and representatives from F.W. Woolworth and Kress stores held talks. The stores refused to integrate as long as other downtown facilities remained segregated. Students insisted the F.W. Woolworth and Kress retail stores would remain targets, and the meeting ended without resolution.

This is what 300 people looks like:

Source: http://www.gkstill.com/Support/crowd-density/100sm/Density4.html

Day 3: February 3, 1960

More than 60 students, one-third of them female, returned to the Greensboro store and sat down at every available lunch counter seat. Students from Bennett College and Dudley High School increased the number of protesters, and many carpooled to and from the F.W. Woolworth store to sit-in shifts.

Members of the KKK were present. White patrons taunted the students as they studied. A statement issued from F.W. Woolworth's national headquarters read that company policy was "to abide by local custom". (That means, they were to follow what was the rule of that specific, local store.)

Protesters at the Woolworth Counter
Source: http://84472759.weebly.com/-the-sit-in.html