April 1960

April 16-17, 1960, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) organized a meeting of sit-in students from all over the nation at Shaw University in Raleigh, NC.

Leader Ella Baker encouraged students to form the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, pronounced "snick") to organize the effort.

Source: http://untdclibrary.blogspot.com/2014/02/ella-baker-was-unsung-civil-rights.html

 "Instead of looking to national leaders and organizations for inspiration and guidance, Baker worked fervently to organize local grassroots organizations especially among the youth. Her call for decentralization of the civil rights movement empowered many to become more politically active."

Source: http://untdclibrary.blogspot.com/2014/02/ella-baker-was-unsung-civil-rights.html

On Thursday, April 21, 1960, 45 students (including Ezell Blair, Jr., Joseph McNeil, David Richmond, and 13 Bennett College students) were arrested for trespassing as they sat at the Kress store lunch counter.

All were released without bail.

Friday, April 1, 1960 - Saturday, April 2, 1960

Students resumed sit-in activities at the Kress and F.W. Woolworth stores and began picketing on Elm and Sycamore streets. That evening at a mass meeting, more than 1,200 students pledged to continue the protests.

By Saturday, April 2, 1960, both Woolworth's and Kress Stores had closed their lunch counters. 

Source: http://vahistorical.org/sites/default/files/styles/slideshow_slide/adaptive-image/public/slideshow_image/70%20woolworth%2014%27wide.jpg?itok=Y2e1PhCb

 Throughout the Sit-In movement, many stores choose to shut down their counters.

People came and sat regardless.