who is esther terry? >> doctor esther terry was one of the participants of the greensboro sit-in. she helped organize the sit-in. she was a university student. she speaks quite openly about how she was influenced, not only by her colleagues, the other women, but also by her professor and by the president of the university. there is a true support system at bennett college, true encouragement that they had in this movement. so she participates and she is actually arrested at one point for her participation in the movement. but esther terry has gone on to be a leader of what historians call the second student movement, whereby students were not concerned necessarily about public accommodations, but this time they were concerned about integrating universities. there is more black faculty at these universities and not only that, but that the curriculum matches, reflects, the diverse population that they are hoping these universities will have. so she eventually moves to massachusetts after earning a masters of arts at the university of north carolina chapel hill. and there she earns a

. >>> next, oral history interview with esther terry who talks about participating in the 1960 lunchounter sit-in protests while the student had been in college in greensboro, north carolina. she served as president of bennett college in 2012 and 2013. this interview is part of an oral history project on the civil rights movement initiated by congress in 2009, conducted by the smithsonian national museum of african-american history and culture, the library of congress and the southern oral history program at the university of north carolina chappech chapel hill. >>> dr. terry, i think i know that your parents drove you to the college here in

. >>> next, oral history interview with esther terry who talks about participating in the 1960 lunch counter sit-in protests while the student had been in college in greensboro, north carolina. she served as president of bennett college in 2012 and 2013. this interview is part of an oral history project on the civil rights movement initiated by congress in 2009, conducted by the smithsonian national museum of african-american history and culture, the library of congress and the southern oral history program at the university of north carolina chappech chapel hill. >>> dr. terry, i think i know that your parents drove you to the college here in fall of '57 rn . >> yes, they did. >> what did you discover here at bennett college? >> it was a big day for me. i came from someplace. i came being supported by the whole community. they prayed for me at church. i had a little scholarship money. i was going to work a little bit. there was always that let me give you a few pennies. so i came from the community and off we came to bennett college. i'd never been to bennett college before. i'd nev

. >> esther terry. traci parker, she talked about her mother being fearful of the danger she was in. could you talk about the reaction to the lunch counter sit in. >> the reaction is mixed. when these men first get to the lunch counter on the very first day, they encounter a white waitress who tells them that we don't serve african-americans here. that white righteous -- waitress gets frazzled, so she calls over a black waitress who quickly tells them that you are making trouble and instructs them to leave. you would assume by that statement that perhaps she was anti-protest. but i think in reality what she is, she is scared. she is scared of what could happen to these young men, she is scared of what could possibly happen to herself. so you see that type of sentiment going on, but increasingly as the movement goes on, these four men, this movement itself, receives immense support from the surrounding community, from the black community. if they were not sitting in at the lunch counters -- i should say

next, an oral history interview with esther terry, who talks about participating in the 1960s lunch inhile a student had been at college in greensboro, north carolina. decades later, she served as president of bennett college in 2012 and 2013. this interview is part of it oral history project on the civil rights movement initiated by congress in 2009. conducted by the smithsonian national museum of african americ

next, an oral history interview with esther terry, who talks about participating in the 1960s lunch in sending protest while a student had been at college in greensboro, north carolina. decades later, she served as president of bennett college in 2012 and 2013. this interview is part of it oral history project on the civil rights movement initiated by congress in 2009. conducted by the smithsonian national museum of african american history and culture. the southern oral history program at the university of north carolina, chapel hill. >> i think i know that your parents drove you to the college in the fall of 57. >> yes they did. >> what did you discover here at bennett college? >> it was a big day for me, but for the whole community. i came from someplace. i didn't just show up. i came being supported by the whole community. they prayed for me a church. they gave me a few pennies here and there since we did not have a lot of money. i had a little scholarship. i had taken the sats there. i had done well enough to get a scholarship money and i was going to work a little bit. there was