it was 1, 2, 3, 4, don't go into woolworths store. southern woolworths segregate. at that young age i immediately knew, as a white girl, this was wrong. there was something wrong with our country, which unfortunately i would have to reiterate today. the certain people who started the movement back then and succeeded, of course, with the integration of the lunch counters, we need them again today. you so much. >> thanks for the memory. traci parker? >> i think that is a typical story. this is why using a woolworths is so important. that you could have such a broad reach from not simply the one woolworths you are protesting against, but also it could connect to others. now you have a movement in new york city that is supportive, that is an alliance with those trying to integrate these public spaces in the south. >> these sit in's? >> the core with the congress of racial equality. it was founded in chicago and one of their major tactics was the sit in. they have been employing the sit in. when the greensboro sit in began, it was local naacp members called the court. w

woolworth's. wool worths was a five in time that many people of a certain age probably still remember. it was a chain discount department store. and it was recognizable because it is a chain across the united states to people. there is a way in which you can recognize it and see yourself in, it and if you wanted to replicate a similar movement, you could. but also, will worth, slack many department stores of the time, operated a very contradictory policy when it came to african americans. they were free to enter, brows, and purchase. however, they were not allowed to eat at lunch counters or other eating facilities. they couldn't use beauty shops. they couldn't try on or return clothing. they were denied credit. they could be provided uneven or unequal service at any moment at the whim of a sales worker. so woolworth's becomes a place that is very visible for showcasing the racial discrimination and segregation of the time, of the country, and it also then for them could be one of the most ideal p

you could go into woolworths and buy anything that they sold. you just couldn't sit down at the lunch counter. you couldn't sit down this to eat. so it was in stark contrast to all the things we had going on here at bennett where we dressed for dinner in the evenings and sat with table cloths and we learned which fork to use and how and we went downtown wearing hats and we wore gloves and we were ladies. you can see how it was just such a jarring thing to be told, well, bennett lady, guess, what you can't sit down there and have a coke. it was uncomfortable. >> what portion of your attention was in some broad kind of sense did you give to these wider questions? little rock is happening, the first desegregation of schools was happening. >> yes. >> there were some lawsuits going through the courts filed by people like dr. simpson, who tried to break down various segregation in the cities. >> yes. >> how much of that was a part of what you gave your attention to? because there were lots of other things. >> there sure were. i told you a part of benn

oferviewer: the end february, 1963 and woolworths -- in woolworths, how did you feel at the end of the day? james: that was scary. the first day we went to woolworths, we try to go there -- tried to go there, it was locked. we could not get in. it was closed, renovation or something. diane was in town. what is diane's last name? she is still going strong. diane. an extremelyas light girl. she went into will words to eat because -- into woolworths to eat because they thought she was white. it was open. when we all went in, she said, reason. 11:00 for some i think that was a time a lot of people would be in their, so we piled in there and it was a had beenbecause diane in the freedom rides and all that stuff, enter strategy was if there are a lot of people in there, they would not hurt you because there was not enough room. and she said, if they start hitting you, fall to the floor. fall, fall towards people. when we did that, all the white -- it was kind of fun and a little bit scary. that is how it went. two things. butad a pretty good crowd, that was short-lived because dr. davis call

the sit-in at woolworths at greensboro, north carolina in 1960. how many of you have heard of this sit-in before this class, honestly? okay. most of you. most of you. this is considered the red letter date, one of the red letter dates in the civil rights movement. i'll list those men, because i'm going to list their names in a minute. but i want to again -- again, i want to provide a context for you to understand what happened. ordinary people. very ordinary people. these are four college students. they were college students at north carolina agricultural and technical university in greensboro, north carolina. they weren't the brightest students, they weren't the best students. they shared a couple dormitory rooms. and they would get together for these -- okay. i'm trying to look for a better word than -- well, okay, i'll just say it on national tv. they got together for bull sessions. have you guys ever heard of a bull session? okay. some of us are old enough to remember this. essentially, students -- those students get together in their dormitor

i didn't have on any shoes because i had lost them when i was dragged across the floor at woolworth's. my stockings were sticking to my legs from the mustard that had dried on them. the hairdresser took one look at me and said my land, you were in that sit-in? yes, i answered. do you have time to wash my hair and style it? right away she said, and she meant right away. there were three other ladies already waiting, but they seemed glad to let me go ahead of them. the hairdresser was real nice. she even took off my stockings and washed my legs while my hair was drying. and i remember when i was working on this book project, i thought this was such a powerful scene and a powerful moment to get us to think about black women within the civil rights movement. here we have ann moody whose body is literally embattled, right? she was on the front lines at a sit-in movement trying to get african-americans better access and equal access to a woolworth lunch counter and she gets ketchup and mustard and spat upon and racial epithets hurled at her and all of those things, and the first place that

you could go into woolworth and buy anything that they sold if you had money. you just could not sit down to get a sandwich at the lunch counter. it was the lunch counter we. you could not sit down to eat. that stood in stark contrast to all the things that we had going on here at bennett where we dressed for dinner in the evenings and sat with tablecloths. we learned which fork to use and how. we went downtown wearing hats and gloves and we were bennett ladies. you can see how it was such a jarring thing to be told well, bennett lady, guess what? you can't sit there and have a cherry coke. there were things that got us -- there was a this ease. it was uncomfortable. one cannot square those two things. >> through your first couple of years of college -- it's a very encompassing and experience when you're interested in you're classes. what interested you give to these what questions? little rock was the first desegregation of the local greensboro schools is happening. early loss to nuance looking through the courts filed by people like doctor seconds to try to b

stills of the civil rights movement and you see how these college students are dressed going to a woolworthcounty. knowing they are going to leave with their close ruined and their hair a mess. that was a strategy of looking a particular way. part of that was about getting to medias attention of looking at these very well dressed well groomed, well behaved black people on the frontlines getting brutalized. you're absolutely right. part of that process of getting there, at least four women at this particular time, was about a particular kind of hair grooming that happened in black beauty shops. so literally, black petitions are preparing people for the front lines and that way as well. what about the beauty shops -- we talked a bit about mutations and the role that they played that made it very easy for them to become civil rights leaders and activists. what about the space of the beauty shop? one of the reasons why they were also very effective is that they had ownership, literally, of a space. and institutional space. we cannot underestimate the importance of institutional space. i know yo

the 1957 integration of central high school in little rock, arkansas, and the sitting at the woolworthsch counter in north calendar. on reel america, the first part 1963 nbcptember 2, news broadcast on the status of the civil rights movement. p.m. eastern, an oral history with a u.s. veteran recorded in 2019 by the korean war legacy foundation. prof. taylor: folks, welcome to this class in african-american history. we are going to discuss, or we are going to begin our discussion of the civil rights movement tonight. for those of you, those of you in this room know who i am, but for others, i'm quintard taylor and i'm a professor of history, american history at the university of washington. okay, we'll get started. last time -- last week we talked about world war ii and one of the things that i tried to

nashville, the first campaign they ran in nashville, where these young people bravely went into woolworthrs and lunch counters and said "we will not be moved until we are allowed to walk through the front that each like every other citizen in the country," and he went from there, all the way to the united states congress, and he is a pillar of the united states congress, sitting in the united states congress for many years, american history, and tonight, we boston. >> shannon: richard, i want to bring in kevin corke, the final minute we have in this hour, i mean, to see a man -- 1940, born to the parents who were sharecroppers, to rise to one of the most powerful positions in this country, it's really an american story, kevin. >> and so many honors, you think about the congressional medal of freedom. i just wanted to read something very quickly that i thought really spoke to this, as you know, shannon, my mom died of pancreatic cancer. lewis said this as were his treatment, he said, "i have been in some kind of fight, for freedom, equality, basic human rights, for nearly my entire life. i

a reference to the 1960 woolworth's lunch counter s sit-in, things like that. this time there was one quick paragraph where he named off a diverse set of american heroes, and that was tacked on at the end and also a signal that he's retreating from the idea he could ever be a divider, whether this is the midpoint or near the end of his presidency. >> and julian, a message of unifying would be the president and the vice president on the same page. the vice president last weekend was talking about wear the mask. so many other lieutenants, so to speak, were saying, wear the mask. but the president still refrains from doing that, even though in a fox interview he said, i've worn a mask. i look like lone ranger. i kind of like it. it's very difficult to understand his technique of, he's a unifier, but then he's not at all unified with some of the experts who were now trying to send a message to the rest of the nation. why is this working or will this work for the president. >> it's not working. we have a resurging pandemic right now in the middle of the summer, and

six and snik and i joined them and watching the coverage i remember sitting on lunch counters in woolworth in detroit, michigan, when the snik nonviolent activists come up behind us and hit us to remind us if we were going to be an activist we needed to gracefully fall off that stool because they wouldn't kick us but hit us on the stool and i have fond memories of him today. brings things full circle. >> it does. it is an important memory. we appreciate your adding it to the programming and for our viewers, you see the plane on the right joint base andrews, congressman lewis' cass keket a now making the way to washington soon. the sendoff here conducted in the middle of a pandemic. john lewis is receiving significant and well deserved tributes, probably not exactly as it would be if we lived in more normal times so let's come back to that if you will. when you look at california, texas and florida, if you talk to dr. deborah birx believing there's evidence of a plateau, arizona started to go down last week and then over the weekend jumped back up. governor hogan and you say you agree with

from north carolina had for the third day in the world in general row sat at a lunch counter and a woolworthl days as it took they were not served. and lonnie king said have you seen this? it was yes i have i replied what did you think about he inquired? so i think it's great. i think it ought to happen here. >> i'm sure it will happen here and responded. surely someone here will do it. then to me, as it came to others in those early days in 1960 i query, an invitation, a commands, why we make it happen here? he and i joe pierce canvassed the cafÉ inviting them to discuss the event and duplicated it in atlanta. the atlanta student movement had begun. so up to that point atlanta didn't really have an organized student movement. this was in 1960 i would've been years after the montgomery boycott. but there was julian at the beginning of the movement and he stayed with the movement. they talk a lot about him being involved in the student union movement? >> you need to unmute yourself i'm sorry. >> that is the downfall of having to mute and unmute. we can't hear you yet. there you go. connect so

exact detail how black college students from north carolina and a and t at greensboro had entered a woolworth's store and discovered their demeanor, dress and returned the next day as long as it took to get served. and lonnie king, said have you seen this? yes, i have, i replied. what do you think about it? he inquired? i think it's great. think it ought to happen here, he asked. although i'm sure it will happen here, i replied, surely someone here will do it. then to me, as it came to others in those early days in 1960, a query, an invitation, a command, why don't we make it happen here? he and i and joe pierce went to the cafe talking to students and discussed the event and duplicated it in atlanta. the atlanta student movement had begun. so up to that point, it's atlanta really didn't have a student movement, a student movement of black students. in 1960, five years after the montgomery bus boycott, which is telling, especially in atlanta, but there was-- julian was at the beginning of the movement and stayed with the movement until the things collapsed later on, but, pam, did julian talk a

it was in front -- you guys remember woolworths was actually where the gap is.e and i just was so inspired and so excited. i never felt so good about how -- the energy in the air and the fun and the excitement and the celebration, it just made me so happy. it made me feel so good. and that's what i always thought that pride was about. it always brings people together to support and to uplift one another. even though -- even though we know that the lgbtq community continues to get disrespected and discriminated against, even with the person, sadly, who is occupying the white house. it is a disgrace. and it means as far as we have come with having the first office of transgender initiatives and all of the things that we need to push for in san francisco, we have such a long way to go. and i want to say to all of you, thank you so much for your courage. thank you all for continuing to speak out and to fight for your ability to just know who you are and to love who you want to love and to do anything that you deserve to be able to do in life. we have as you know her

woolworths was not close to black patrons.f you going to woolworths, you could buy what they sold. you just could not sit down and get a sandwich. you couldn't sit down there to eat. youngk we might have been , because honestly i felt proud. ever't think my mother felt --maybe she felt proud, but i think that was not her main feeling. i think she was terrified. i know that now because i have a child, she's not a child anymore, but even so i think is a mother i would be afraid. i'm going to tell you, we were proud. i was proud to sit there. i was very, very proud. i will tell you something else. i never, ever understood the hatred that came. he was absolutely surprising because i did not understand why people would glare at us with such hatred. was a little unnerving. city beganreensboro february 1, it ended july 25. it is continuous. there is a two-week moratorium. this is an agreement made between protesters and the city. thee citizens in richmond. from her library of congress oral history interview. >> i thought the world wa