Civil Rights Museum

The International Civil Rights Center and Museum is a recently opened museum housed in the F.W. Woolworth building.  Located at 134 S. Elm Street in downtown Greensboro, it is near many other Greensboro attractions.  In 1960, four college students from N.C. A&T staged a sit-in at the lunch counter here to quietly protest the discrimination against African-Americans.  The Woolworth's lunch counter at that time only served whites. 

After these four African-American men were refused to be served, they sat at the counter until the store closed.  But their protest wasn't over.  The next day, they were back with twenty-five of their friends.  They sat for the entire afternoon and were again refused service. 

Newspapers reporters and television crews descended upon the scene.  The story was reported nationally.  The protest in Greensboro quickly grew to hundreds and continued daily throughout the spring.  The sit-ins spread to other stores in Greensboro and soon, protests were popping up in other states.  By the end of March, there were protests in 55 cities across 13 different states.  It expanded from lunch counters to beaches, libraries, hotels and other establishments. 

When the college students here in Greensboro went home for the summer, the protests were continued by local Dudley High School students.   On July 25, 1960, the lunch counter was finally open to African-Americans. 

Today, you can see the actual lunch counter where Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair, Jr. and David Richmond began a protest that changed our nation's history.  The International Civil Rights Center and Museum is open (October-March) Tuesday through Saturday 10:00-6:00 and Sunday from 1:00-5:00.  From April-September), hours of operation are Tuesday through Thursday 9:00-6:00, Friday and Saturday 9:00-7:00 and Sunday from 1:00-6:00.  Admission is $10/adult, $8/students and seniors, $6 for children (ages 6-12).  Children under 6 are free.  Tours are available every half hour for a comprehensive visit of the museum.