Stool from the Greensboro Lunch Counter

Object Details

F. W. Woolworth Co.

Description: On February 1, 1960, four African American students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College began a nonviolent, direct-action protest. Ezell Blair, Jr. (Jibreel Khazan), Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond sat at the “whites only” lunch counter at a Woolworth store in Greensboro, North Carolina, and requested service. The staff refused and asked the men to leave, but the students remained for the rest of the day. On February 2, over twenty students joined the sit-in. During the following days and weeks, an interracial group of supporters—including college and high school students—sat-in and picketed the store. The Greensboro protests inspired thousands of others throughout the South to stage sit-ins against Jim Crow. By July, when Woolworth finally served diners regardless of their race, young activists were a factor in the growing civil rights movement.

Physical Description: silver (overall color); salmon (overall color)
Measurements: average spatial: 38 in x 15 in x 15 in; 96.52 cm x 38.1 cm x 38.1 cm

Related Publication: Kendrick, Kathleen M. and Peter C. Liebhold. Smithsonian Treasures of American History; National Museum of American History. Treasures of American History exhibition website
Related Web Publication: https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/exhibitions/treasures-american-history

See more items in: Political History: Political History, General History Collection; Food; Government, Politics, and Reform; National Treasures exhibit
Exhibition: Greensboro Lunch Counter
Exhibition Location: National Museum of American History

National Museum of American History

GUID (Link to Original Record): https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a9-ed09-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa