On February 1st, 1960, near the corner of East February Place and Elm Street, in Greensboro, NC, four freshman from North Carolina A&T University sat down at a segregated lunch counter at Woolworth's department store, and helped to change the course of history.
More after the fold...
These young men, freshmen in college, took a brave stand against segregation, which triggered similar protests across the country. Their simple yet courageous actions continue to reverberate to this very day.
Now, 50 years later, the site of their sit-in has reopened as The International Civil Rights Museum. Per their website:
The ICRCM seeks to ensure that the world never forgets the courage displayed by four young North Carolina A&T State College students, on February 1, 1960, and the hundreds and thousands of college and community youth in Greensboro, in the South and around the country who joined them in the days and weeks that followed which led to the desegregation of the Woolworth lunch counter and ultimately to the smashing of the despicable segregation system in the southern United States. The ICRCM seeks to preserve the legacy and the significance of that event by demonstrating why, in the current context, such inherently evil, institutionalized oppression has no place in the human race. The International Civil Rights Center & Museum exists as a testimony to courage and the potential of unified people on the right side of history to make change. The ICRCM will be a gift from the citizens of North Carolina to the nation and the world. We build this monument for their benefit.
The museum features myriad exhibits detailing the struggle for civil rights in America, and includes the original lunch-counter where a six month struggle finally led to the desegregation of Woolworth's.
Greensboro is an interesting choice for the International Civil Rights museum, given its checkered past in dealing with the subject. Not only was Greensboro firmly situated in the Jim Crowe South, but it also recently saw the 30th anniversary of the Nazi-Clan Shooting, where several members of the Communist Workers Party were murdered by members of the American Nazi Party, after trying to organize black workers in the area. Six members of the Communist Workers Party lost their life that day. Later, two members of the American Nazi Party were acquitted by all white juries. The actions of the Greensboro City Police have been called into question, and the topic remains an open sore for the city to this day.
