Greensboro sit-ins

Greensboro sit-ins
Part of the Sit-in movement in the Civil Rights Movement
The Greensboro Four: (left to right) David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell A. Blair, Jr., and Joseph McNeil. Photo by Jack Moebes. Jack Moebes Photo Archive.
Date	February 1 – July 25, 1960 (5 months, 3 weeks and 3 days)
Location	Greensboro, North Carolina
Caused by	"Whites Only" lunch counters at F. W. Woolworth Company Racial segregation in public accommodations
Resulted in	Catalyst to sit-in movement that spread to more than 55 cities in 13 U.S. states within three months Formation of Student Executive Committee for Justice (SECJ) Greensboro businesses desegregate lunch counters Catalyst to the formation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
Parties
Students from: North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University Bennett College James B. Dudley High School Woman's College Organizations involved: Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Business lunch counters at: F. W. Woolworth Company Kress Walgreens Organizations involved: KKK
Lead figures
Students Joseph McNeil Franklin McCain Ezell Blair Jr. David Richmond Woolworth Clarence Harris KKK member George Dorsett

The Greensboro sit-ins were a series of nonviolent protests in February to July 1960, primarily in the Woolworth store — now the International Civil Rights Center and Museum — in Greensboro, North Carolina,^[1] which led to the F. W. Woolworth Company department store chain removing its policy of racial segregation in the Southern United States.^[2] While not the first sit-in of the civil rights movement, the Greensboro sit-ins were an instrumental action, and also the best-known sit-ins of the civil rights movement. They are considered a catalyst to the subsequent sit-in movement, in which 70,000 people participated.^[3][4] This sit-in was a contributing factor in the formation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).^[5][6]