Sit-in movement

This article is about the wave of sit-ins during the 1960s in the United States. For the nonprofit organization, see International Civil Rights Center and Museum.

Sit-in movement
Part of the Civil Rights Movement
Student sit-in at Woolworth in Durham, North Carolina on February 10, 1960
Date	February 1, 1960 – 1964
Location	United States
Caused by	Racial segregation in public accommodations Reaction to the Greensboro sit-ins
Parties
Student activists Segregated businesses

The sit-in movement, sit-in campaign, or student sit-in movement, was a wave of sit-ins that followed the Greensboro sit-ins on February 1, 1960, led by students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical Institute (A&T). ^[1] The sit-in movement employed the tactic of nonviolent direct action and was a pivotal event during the Civil Rights Movement. ^[2]

African-American college students attending historically Black colleges and universities in the United States powered the sit-in movement across the country. Many students across the country followed by example, as sit-ins provided a powerful tool for students to use to attract attention. ^[3] The students of Baltimore made use of this in 1960 when many used the efforts to desegregate department store restaurants, which proved to be successful lasting about three weeks. This was one small role Baltimore played in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The city facilitated social movements as it saw bus and taxi companies hiring African Americans in 1951–1952. ^[4] Sit-ins also frequented segregated facilities in Oklahoma City between 1958 and 1964. ^[5]

Students at Morgan State College in Baltimore, Maryland, successfully deployed sit-ins and other direct action protest tactics against lunch counters in the city since at least 1953. One notable successful student sit-in occurred in 1955 at Read's Drug Store. ^[6] Despite also being led by students and successfully resulting in the end of segregation at a store lunch counter, the Read's Drug Store sit-in would not receive the same level of attention that was later given to the Greensboro sit-ins. ^[7] Two store lunch counter sit-ins which occurred in Wichita, Kansas and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1958 also proved successful, and would employ tactics that were in fact similar to the future Greensboro sit-ins. ^{[8] [9]} The local chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality had had similar success. Witnessing the unprecedented visibility afforded in the white-oriented mainstream media to the 1960 sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina, Morgan students (and others, including those from the Johns Hopkins University) continued sit-in campaigns already underway at department store restaurants near their campus. There were massive amounts of support from the community for the student’s efforts, but more importantly, white involvement and support grew in favor of the desegregation of department store restaurants. ^[10]

Additional image of Civil Rights protestors executing a sit-in at a Woolworth's in Durham, North Carolina on February 10th of 1960.

Sit-ins were by far the most prominent in 1960, however, they were still a useful tactic in the civil rights movement in the years to come. In February 1961, students from Friendship Junior College in Rock Hill, South Carolina, organized a sit-in at a segregated lunch counter. The students were then arrested and refused to pay bail. This was part of their "Jail, No Bail" strategy, ^[11] they instead decided to serve jail time as a demonstration of their commitment to the civil rights movement.

An additional important event in the process of granting civil rights was the sit-ins that occurred in Albany, Georgia. These sit-ins were useful tactics that started in December 1961. They used sit-ins, boycotts, and marches to achieve their goal of ending segregation in public facilities. The Freedom Rides of 1961 also played a crucial role, with activists. Participating in sit-ins at segregated bus terminals across the South to challenge segregation in interstate transportation. This and other strong actions helped propel momentum and eventually helped lead to the removal of segregation laws in the United States. ^[12]

The sit-ins in Greensboro invigorated U.S. civil rights movements by reinforcing the success of other protests like the Montgomery bus boycott, which had shown how effectively a mass of people could change public opinions and governmental policies. ^[13]

List of sit-ins

Precursors to sit-in movement

Start date	Sit-in(s)	Location	Ref.	Notes
August 21, 1939	Alexandria Library sit-in	Alexandria, Virginia	[14] [15]	[note 1]
1943	Chicago	Chicago, Illinois	[16]	[note 2]
July 1948	Des Moines Katz Drugstore protests	Des Moines, Iowa	[17]
1953	Baltimore	Baltimore, Maryland
1954	Dresden	Dresden, Ontario, Canada	[18]
January 20, 1955	Read's Drug Store	Baltimore, Maryland	[19] [20]	[note 3]
June 23, 1957	Royal Ice Cream sit-in	Durham, North Carolina	[21]	[note 4]
July 19, 1958	Dockum Drug Store sit-in	Wichita, Kansas	[22]
August 19, 1958	Katz Drug Store sit-in	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	[23] [22]	[note 5]
1959	Miami	Miami, Florida

Beginning with Greensboro sit-ins

Start date (1960)	Sit-in(s)	University or College students	State	Ref.	Notes
February 1	Greensboro sit-ins	North Carolina A&T State University	North Carolina	[24] [25]
February 8	Durham	North Carolina College		[25]
	Fayetteville	Fayetteville State Teachers College		[25]
	Winston-Salem	Winston-Salem Teachers College		[25]
February 9	Charlotte	Johnson C. Smith University		[25]
	Concord	Barber–Scotia College		[25]
	Elizabeth City	Elizabeth City State Teachers College		[25]
	Henderson			[25]
	High Point			[25]
February 10	Raleigh	Saint Augustine's College		[25]
		Shaw University
February 11	Hampton	Hampton University	Virginia	[25]
	Portsmouth			[25]
	High Point	William Penn High School	North Carolina	[26]
February 12	Rock Hill	Clinton Junior College	South Carolina	[25]
	Norfolk		Virginia	[25] [27]
February 13	Nashville sit-ins	Fisk University	Tennessee	[25]	[note 6]
	Tallahassee	Florida A&M University	Florida	[25] [28]
		Florida State University
February 14	Sumter	Morris College	South Carolina	[25]
February 16	Salisbury	Livingstone College	North Carolina	[25]
February 17	Chapel Hill			[25]
February 18	Charleston		South Carolina	[25]
	Shelby		North Carolina	[25]
February 19	Chattanooga		Tennessee	[25] [29]
February 20	Richmond	Virginia Union University	Virginia	[25] [30]	[note 7]
February 22	Baltimore	Coppin State Teachers College	Maryland	[25]
	Frankfort	State Normal School for Colored Persons	Kentucky	[25]
February 25	Montgomery	Alabama State College	Alabama	[25]	[note 8]
	Orangeburg	Claflin College	South Carolina	[25]
February 26	Lexington		Kentucky	[25]
	Petersburg	Virginia State College	Virginia	[25]
	Tuskegee	Tuskegee Institute	Alabama	[25]
February 27	Tampa		Florida	[25]
March 2	Columbia	Allen University	South Carolina	[25]
		Benedict College
	Daytona Beach	Bethune–Cookman College	Florida	[25]
	St. Petersburg			[25]
March 4	Houston	Texas Southern University	Texas	[25] [31]	[note 9]
	Miami	Florida Memorial College	Florida	[25]
March 7	Knoxville	Knoxville College	Tennessee	[25] [32] [33]
March 8	New Orleans	Dillard University	Louisiana	[25]
		Southern University
March 10	Little Rock	Arkansas Baptist College	Arkansas	[25]
March 11	Austin	Huston–Tillotson College	Texas	[25]
	Galveston			[25]
March 12	Jacksonville	Edward Waters College	Florida	[25]
March 13	San Antonio		Texas	[25]
March 15	Atlanta sit-ins	Clark College	Georgia	[25] [34]	[note 10]
		Morehouse College
		Morris Brown College
		Spelman College
	Orangeburg	South Carolina State University	South Carolina	[35]	[note 11]
		Claflin College
	Corpus Christi		Texas	[25]
	St. Augustine		Florida	[25]
	Statesville		North Carolina	[25]
March 16	Savannah	Savannah State College	Georgia	[25]
March 17	New Bern		North Carolina	[25]
March 19	Memphis	Owen Junior College	Tennessee	[25]
	Wilmington		North Carolina	[25]
	Arlington		Virginia	[25]
March 26	Lynchburg	Randolph-Macon Woman's College; Lynchburg College; and Virginia Theological Seminary and College	Virginia	[25] [36]
March 28	Baton Rouge	Southern University	Louisiana	[25]	[note 12]
	New Orleans	Xavier University		[25]
March 29	Marshall	Wiley College	Texas	[25] [37]
March 31	Birmingham	Wenonah State Technical Institute	Alabama	[25]
		Miles College
April 2	Danville		Virginia	[25]
April 4	Darlington		South Carolina	[25]
April 9	Augusta	Paine College	Georgia	[25]
April 12	Norfolk	Virginia State College (Norfolk Division)	Virginia	[25]
April 17	Biloxi		Mississippi	[25]
April 23	Starkville			[25]
April 24	Charleston	Burke High School	South Carolina	[25] [38]	[note 13]
April 28	Dallas	Paul Quinn College	Texas	[25]
June 17	Baltimore		Maryland	[25] [39]	[note 14]

Related post-1960 sit-ins

Date	Sit-in(s)	Location	Ref.	Notes
September 11, 1960	El Charro Mexican Restaurant	Flagstaff, Arizona	[40]
January 31, 1961	Rock Hill	South Carolina		[note 15]
1962		Sewanee, Tennessee		[note 16]
May 28, 1963	Woolworth's	Jackson, Mississippi	[41] [42]	[note 17]
March 7, 1964	Audubon Regional Library	Clinton, Louisiana	[43]	[note 18]

See also

• The Children , 1999 book on the Nashville Student Movement
• Women's War
• Julius sip-in, LGBT protest inspired by the sit-in movement

• 1960s portal
• Civil rights movement portal

Notes

1. Five men participated in the sit-in organized by Samuel Wilbert Tucker.
2. Led by Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).
3. The sit-in was conducted at Read's Drug Store.
4. Participants include Douglas E. Moore.
5. Participants include Clara Luper.
6. Participants during the February 20, 17 include Patricia Stephens.
7. 34 students would participate and be arrested. They became known as the Richmond 34.
8. The sit-in targeted a state capitol cafeteria and was led by Bernard Lee accompanied by three dozen students.
9. Participants include Texas Southern University student and leader Holly Hogrobrooks. Also see Ku Klux Klan victim Felton Turner.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000058-QINU`"''"`UNIQ--ref-00000059-QINU`"''"`UNIQ--ref-0000005A-QINU`"'
10. Participants include Morehouse College student Charles Person.
11. Resulted in the largest mass arrest (388) of the Civil Rights Movement up to that point.
12. Sit-in led to Garner v. Louisiana (1961) case.
13. Led by James Blake and occurred at the Kress store on King Street.
14. Sit-in led to Bell v. Maryland (1964) case that involved Robert M. Bell.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000070-QINU`"'
15. Students from Friendship Junior College protested. A group of nine students known as the Friendship Nine would use the "jail no bail" tactic later duplicated by other protestors. The sit-in is regarded as the first to use the tactic, but Christopher W. Schmidt challenges this assertion. Patricia Stephens Due is sometimes credited as the first to use the tactic.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000077-QINU`"'
16. Participants include Bruce W. Klunder.
17. Participants include Pearlena Lewis and Anne Moody.
18. Sit-in led to Brown v. Louisiana (1966) case.

References

1. Kowal, Rebekah J. (2004). "Staging the Greensboro Sit-Ins". TDR (1988-). 48 (4): 135–154. ISSN   1054-2043.
2. Flowers, Deidre B. (January 2005). "The Launching of the Student Sit-in Movement: The Role of Black Women at Bennett College". The Journal of African American History. 90 (1–2): 52–63. doi:10.1086/jaahv90n1-2p52. ISSN   1548-1867. S2CID   140781391.
3. "The Sit-In Movement [ushistory.org]". www.ushistory.org. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
4. William H. Chafe (April 1982). "Civilities and Civil Rights: Greensboro, North Carolina, and the Black Struggle for Freedom". The American Historical Review. New York: Oxford University Press: xii, 436. doi:10.1086/ahr/87.2.565. ISSN   1937-5239.
5. "60 Years Later, Oklahoma's Sit-In Movement is Remembered". The Oklahoman . August 12, 2018.
6. Liu, Nancy (September 11, 2011). "Baltimore, MD, students sit-in to integrate Read's drug stores, USA, 1955". Global Nonviolent Action Database. Swarthmore. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
7. Pousson, Eli. "Read's Drug Store". baltimoreheritage.org. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
8. "Dockum Drug Store Sit-In". Kansas Historical Society. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
9. Backburn, Bob L. (July 29, 2018). "African-American history in Oklahoma contains sit-ins, soldiers, entrepreneurs and more". The Oklahoman. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
10. "Baltimore Sit-Ins". Nonviolent Datebase.
11. Schmidt, Christopher W. (2015). "Divided by Law: The Sit-ins and the Role of the Courts in the Civil Rights Movement". Law and History Review. 33 (1): 93–149. ISSN   0738-2480.
12. Colaiaco, James A. (1988), "The Lessons of Albany, Georgia, 1961–2", Martin Luther King, Jr., London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 40–53, ISBN   978-1-349-08225-4 , retrieved April 15, 2024
13. Kowal, Rebekah J. (2004). "Staging the Greensboro Sit-Ins". TDR (1988-). 48 (4): 135–154. ISSN   1054-2043.
14. Mitchell-Powell, Brenda (2017). "The 1939 Alexandria, Virginia, Public Library Sit-in Demonstration". In Kimball, Melanie A.; Wisser, Katherine M. (eds.). Libraries – Traditions and Innovations: Papers from the Library History Seminar XIII. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. pp. 70–99. ISBN   9783110448566.
15. Smith, J. Douglas (2003). Managing White Supremacy: Race, Politics, and Citizenship in Jim Crow Virginia. University of North Carolina Press. pp. 259–270. ISBN   9780807862261.
16. Shah, Aarushi H. (November 2012). "All of Africa Will Be Free Before We Can Get a Lousy Cup of Coffee: The Impact of the 1943 Lunch Counter Sit-Ins on the Civil Rights Movement". The History Teacher. 46 (1): 127–147.
17. "State v. Katz, 241 Iowa 115 | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
18. Lambertson, Ross (2001). ""The Dresden Story": Racism, Human Rights, and the Jewish Labour Committee of Canada". Journal of Canadian Labour Studies. 47: 43–82.
19. Gunts, Edward (February 8, 2011). "Read's Drugstore Flap Brings Baltimore Civil Rights History to Life". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
20. "Why the West Side Matters: Read's Drug Store and Baltimore's Civil Rights Heritage". Baltimore Heritage. January 7, 2011. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
21. Greene, Christina (2006). Our Separate Ways: Women and the Black Freedom Movement in Durham, North Carolina. University of North Carolina Press. pp. 65–69. ISBN   9780807876374.
22. Walters, Ronald (Spring 1996). "The Great Plains Sit In Movement, 1958–60". Great Plains Quarterly. 16: 85–94.
23. Graves, Carl R. (Summer 1981). "The Right to Be Served: Oklahoma City's Lunch Counter Sit-ins, 1958–1964". Chronicles of Oklahoma. 59 (2): 152–155.
24. Chafe, William Henry (1981). "The Sit-Ins Begin". Civilities and Civil Rights: Greensboro, North Carolina, and the Black Struggle for Freedom. Oxford University Press. pp. 71–101. ISBN   9780195029192.
25. "The Sit-in Movement". International Civil Rights Center & Museum. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
26. "Civil Rights". williampennproject. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
27. "Hampton Roads Heritage Project". Norfolk Public Library. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
28. White, Robert Melvin (1964). The Tallahassee Sit-ins and CORE, a Nonviolent Revolutionary Submovement (Ph.D.). Florida State University. OCLC   7563086.
29. Harris, Jessie (2011). Unfamiliar Streets: The Chattanooga Sit-ins, the Local Press, and the Concern for Civilities (M.A. thesis). Virginia Commonwealth University. OCLC   727069042.
30. Wallenstein, Peter (2013). "To Sit or Not to Sit: Scenes in Richmond from the Civil Rights Movement". Blue Laws and Black Codes: Conflict, Courts, and Change in Twentieth-Century Virginia. University of Virginia Press. pp. 114–141. ISBN   9780813924878.
31. Jensen, F. Kenneth (1992). "The Houston Sit-In Movement of 1960–61". In Beeth, Howard; Wintz, Cary D. (eds.). Black Dixie: Afro-Texan History and Culture in Houston. Texas A&M University Press. ISBN   9780890964941.
32. Fleming, Cynthia Griggs (Spring 1990). "White Lunch Counters and Black Consciousness: The Story of the Knoxville Sit-ins". Tennessee Historical Quarterly. 49 (1): 40–52.
33. Zagumny, Lisa L. (Winter 2001). "Sit-Ins in Knoxville, Tennessee: A Case Study of Political Rhetoric". The Journal of Negro History. 86 (1): 45–54. doi:10.2307/1350178. JSTOR   1350178. S2CID   141496195.
34. Garrow, David J. (1989). Atlanta Georgia, 1960–1961: Sit Ins and Student Activism. Carlson Publishing. ISBN   9780926019058.
35. Hine, William C. (October 1996). "Civil Rights and Campus Wrongs". South Carolina Historical Magazine. 97 (4): 320.
36. "Remembering the Patterson Six: A decision to make a stand for civil rights earned two R-MWC students jail time—and a spot in history". News and Events. December 14, 2020. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
37. Seals, Donald Jr. (January 2003). "The Wiley-Bishop Student Movement: A Case Study in the 1960 Civil Rights Sit-Ins". The Southwestern Historical Quarterly. 106 (3): 418–440.
38. Baker, R. Scott (2006). Paradoxes of Desegregation: African American Struggles for Educational Equity in Charleston, South Carolina, 1926–1972. University of South Carolina Press. pp. 142–143. ISBN   9781570036323.
39. "Recalling a 1960 Baltimore Sit-in". Politico. Associated Press. October 27, 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
40. Hoyt, William (September 13, 1960). "'Sit-in' Protest in Flag Revealed at Council Meet". Arizona Daily Sun . p. 1. Retrieved October 9, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
41. Pettus, Emily Wagster (February 10, 2015). "Anne Moody, Sat Stoically at Violent Woolworth's Sit-in, Dies at 74". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
42. O'Brien, M. J. (2013). We Shall Not Be Moved: The Jackson Woolworth's Sit-In and the Movement It Inspired. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN   9781617037443.
43. Battles, David M. (2008). The History of Public Library Access for African Americans in the South: Or, Leaving Behind the Plow. Scarecrow Press. pp. 137–138. ISBN   9781461672937.

Further reading

Books

• Carson, Clayborne (1981). In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s. Harvard University Press. ISBN   9780674447271.
• Meier, August; Rudwick, Elliott M. (1975). CORE: A Study in the Civil Rights Movement, 1942–1968. University of Illinois Press. ISBN   9780252005671.
• Morgan, Iwan W.; Davies, Philip (2012). From Sit-ins to SNCC: The Student Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. University Press of Florida. ISBN   9780813041513.
• Oppenheimer, Martin (1989). The Sit-In Movement of 1960. Carlson Publishing. ISBN   9780926019102.
• Schmidt, Christopher W. (2018). The Sit-Ins: Protest and Legal Change in the Civil Rights Era. University of Chicago Press. ISBN   9780226522449.
• Terry, David Taft (2019). The Struggle and the Urban South. University of Georgia Press. ISBN   9780820355078.

Journals

• Ervin, Brad (March 2007). "Result or Reason: The Supreme Court and the Sit-In Cases". Virginia Law Review. 93 (1): 181–233.
• Gilbert, Martin G. (Summer 1963). "Theories of State Action as Applied to the Sit-in Cases". Arkansas Law Review. 17: 147–.
• "Hamm v. City of Rock Hill: Out of the Frying Pan". Ohio State Law Journal. 26 (4): 659–678. 1965. hdl:1811/68789.
• Lewis, Thomas P. (1963). "The Sit-in Cases: Great Expectations". The Supreme Court Review. 1963: 101–151. doi:10.1086/scr.1963.3108730. S2CID   146825976.
• Morris, Aldon (December 1981). "Black Southern Student Sit-in Movement: An Analysis of Internal Organization" (PDF). American Sociological Review. 46 (6): 744–767. doi:10.2307/2095077. JSTOR   2095077. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 7, 2020.
• Paulsen, Monrad G. (1964). "The Sit-in Cases of 1964: "But Answer Came There None"". Supreme Court Review. 1964: 137–. doi:10.1086/scr.1964.3108696. S2CID   147484895.
• Pollitt, Daniel H. (1960). "Dime Store Demonstrations: Events and Legal Problems of First Sixty Days". Duke Law Journal. 9 (1): 315–365. doi:10.2307/1371082. JSTOR   1371082.
• Riva, Sarah (Autumn 2012). "Desegregating Downtown Little Rock: The Field Reports of SNCC's Bill Hansen, October 23 to December 3, 1962". The Arkansas Historical Quarterly. 71 (3): 264–282.
• Schmidt, Christopher W. (2010). "The Sit-Ins and the State Action Doctrine". William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal. 18 (3): 767–829.
• Schmidt, Christopher W. (February 1, 2015). "Divided by Law: The Sit-Ins and the Role of the Courts in the Civil Rights Movement". Law and History Review. 33 (1): 93–149. doi:10.1017/S0738248014000509. S2CID   232400894.
• Schmidt, Christopher W. (Spring 2017). "Why the 1960 Lunch Counter Sit-Ins Worked: A Case Study of Law and Social Movement Mobilization". Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality. 5 (2): 281–300.
• Walters, Ronald (February 1993). "Standing Up in America's Heartland: Sitting in Before Greensboro". American Visions. 8 (1): 20–23.

External links

• "The Student Protest Movement: A Recapitulation" (PDF). Crmvet.org. Southern Regional Council. September 1961. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
• "Sit-ins: A Chronological Listing of the Cities In Which Demonstrations Have Occurred, February 1 – March 31, 1960" (PDF). Crmvet.org. unknown author. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
• Zinn, Howard. "Notes: Chronology of Student Sit-Ins and Freedom Rides, 1960–1961" (PDF). Crmvet.org. Retrieved January 2, 2017.