>> of american history tv's railamerica brings you archival films it helped the story of the 20th century and also provide context for current events. check c-span.org/history for more information. >> this year, c-span's touring cities across the pond country. next, a visitor greensboro, north carolina. you're watching american history tv, all weekend, every weekend on c-span three. >> the international civil rights center and museum opened in greensboro on february 1 2010. it tells the story of the citizens that happened in the city, which launched a wave of anti-segregation sit in across the south.

>> what happen here in 1916, 4 men from north carolina university jojo that day to make a stand, to take a seat so that the rest of us would be able to do that. they took a stand against jim crow segregation, whites only access to accommodation. they came here to this lunch counter to sit down, to be treated and served against the policies and practices. this year, the museum is the actual lunch counter area that has been preserved. there have been some seeds taken out in other areas that are at the smithsonian institute, greensburg historical museum, and so the gentleman -- the four young men that sat in here have talked to us about around where they sat, so a lot of the things

you will see here are the actual advertisements around the different menu items they offered and the prices. these four were franklin mccain, ezell blair, joseph mcneal, and david richmond. they were freshmen at north carolina a&t university, a historically black university here. they came to the store, sat at the lunch counter and asked to order i believe some coffee and a piece of pie. the responses with really mixed. "you boys go on from here," i think another waitress was saying, "we don't serve colored people here." the word spread quickly the next day that this was going to be ongoing and that other people were wanting to get involved. other adults were showing up there were other students that said we want to be part of this.

students from bennett college and what is noy unc greensboro but was at the time women's college. other students who wanted to get involved and stand behind this brave and courageous step. they weighed the consequences. they talked about being afraid but they also talked about what i would say the courage isn't the lack of fear, it's doing what is right in the face of fear. it's the way they decided to finally come here and take the step that day. so they talked about the community, talked about law enforcement, they talked about the police, what would be their reaction. they talked about the dangers, the consequences, their futures. they had been advised, counseled, encouraged, trained about what was going to happen to them here. they would go through sort of mork experiences where people are going to be calling you names, spitting on you. people may throw food on you those kind of things. people may be chanting, getting in your face, there may be some physical experience you may have

with someone. so there were mixed reactions in greensboro fought sit-in. sit-in. a lot of people felt like this is just the way things are and up keep the peace, you just accept that that's the way things are. i think other people feel like this isn't right, so there were mixed reactiones to this. there are some people, white and black, that encouraged and said it's about time and lent their support. there were other people said you're just starting trouble this isn't good, it's just going to create more tension around here so there were mixed , reactions to that. i think there were around the country. so the sit-ins sort of sparked this dialogue and discussion and frustration about what it is that we're going to do? there were requests made that while we're in negotiations if we could just not have the demonstrations. i think the negotiations went on for some time and all parties

agreed that that he would not participate in the demonstrations at that point and then the decision was made to desegregate the lunch counter. well, once you set a precedent like that, it gets to be used as leverage to change people's minds and practices. those thinds are catalysts to start that domino effect of equality and justice. the fact that this happened in greensboro gives us an incredible immediate sense of how to interpret and understand what we're going through today. to be able to come to this museum, to go on the tour, to look at the different exhibits, to hear the re-enactments, to be able to see the photographs ans and to have an incredibly personal experience, a very compelling provocative experience here gives us the courage to say what must we do

going forward. i think this place provides the contextual information to understand why do we have racial inequalities today? why do we have achievement gaps? why do we have overrepresentation in our criminal justice and juvenile justice systems? so we have this place right here where we can put our hands on it and we can come and be not only in that physical place but in that interpretive space. the actions that those young men took on that day and the fact that we were able to memorize memorialize that here in this museum gives us an opportunity to ask ourselves, what is my lunch counter issue? what would i be demonstrating? or if those young men were here today, what would they say societally needs to be addressed and what would be the strategy for that? >> find out where c-span's cities to her is going next

online at c-span.org/cities to her. you're watching american history tv all weekend, every weekend on c-span three. >> next weekend marks the 50th anniversary of bloody sunday when voting rights advocates on a march from montgomery to selma, alabama were met i violence from alabama state troopers. american history tv will be live from soma next saturday and sunday and each night at 8:00 p.m. eastern, we will show highlights of our coverage. here is john lewis, one of the leaders of the march reflecting on some of 50 years later. >> when i heard that dr. king had been assassinated, it was a sad time and our time for me. i love to dr. king. if it had not been for him, i do not know what would've happened to me. i had grown up very poor in rural alabama -- he gave me a

way out. maybe a way in. but the philosophy and the discipline of nonviolence tell us that you should not get in a state of despair, you should be hopeful, you should pick yourself up and continue to move -- keep going. i think one of the great moments of hope when we were marching from selma to montgomery -- the reaction of people around the nation and the world demonstrations in more than 80 cities on almost every major college campus in america. they said, it's going to work

out. it's going to be all right. at the end of the speech he said, we shall overcome. there was hope. that said it all. >> join "american history tv" net saturday and sunday, march 7 and eighth, with live coverage from selma alabama. emma, iowa state university professor sarah mark keddie -- m arcketti talks about why fashion is not protected under copyright protection. despite popularity of the guild in the fashion industry, there was