On February 1, 1960, four North Carolina A&T University students — Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain, and Joseph McNeil — staged the first sit-in in Greensboro, North Carolina, History.com reports. The protest took place at Woolworth’s lunch counter, the group motivated by other nonviolent protest techniques spreading across the globe and the murder of Emmett Till just a few years prior. Now known as The Greensboro Four, the young men planned out all the details of their protest, partnering with a local white businessman named Ralph Johns to help execute it.
Just as they sat down at the lunch counter, Johns alerted the local media who arrived just as police were showing up to detain them. However, without provocation, the police couldn’t make an arrest. The media showed up in droves and the four stayed at the lunch counter until the store closed. The following day, they returned with even more college students. The sit-ins lasted for more than 5 months with thousands of students participating nationwide. The protests proved effective and by July, many restaurants were integrating.
Today, Woolworth’s in Greensboro serves as the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, preserving the work of Blair, Richmond, McCain, and McNeil and educating the masses on the origins of one of the most powerful civil rights movements ever. In honor of the anniversary of that very first sit-in, here is why the Greensboro sit-ins were such a pivotal moment in Black history: