what happened here in 1960, february 1, four young men from north carolina amt state -- amt -- north carolina a&t state university chose that day to make a stand, really to take a seat so that the rest of us would be able to do that. so they took a stand against jim crow, against segregation, against whites-only access to public accommodations and to being seen as a first-class citizen. they came here to this woolworth building and this lunch counter to sit down and be treated like a first-class citizen and be served against their policies and practices. this is the actual lunch counter area that's been preserved. some seats have been taken out in other areas that are at thing smithsonian and other musics. 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 state university, a historically black university here. they came to the stor

they were freshmen at north carolina amt state university, a historically black college. they came to the woolworth's store, sat at the lunch counter and asked to order some coffee and i believe, a piece of pie. the response was really mixed. just like, "you boys go on from here." i think another waitress was saying something like "we don't serve colored people here." they set down to take that first step in the demonstration. the word spread quickly that this would be ongoing and that other people were wanting to get involved. there were other adults showing up, other students that said he wanted to be part of it. students from bennett college. other students and other community members that want to get involved and stand behind this brave and courageous step. they waved their consequences. they talked about being afraid but they also talked about what i would say that courage is not the lack of fear but doing what's right in the face of fear. it's the way that they finally decided to come here and take the step that day. they talked about -- the community, they talked a