Sit-in at Woolworth: 52 Years Ago Today

As we discussed in class, on this date in 1963, the Woolworth counter in Jackson, Mississippi became the site of the most violently attacked and widely publicized sit-ins.  Protesting the 'whites only' policy, the activists (pictured below) refused to get up from the lunch counter.  The following is an account of that day, excerpted from the Zinn Education Project.

On May 28, 1963, in Jackson, Mississippi, the Woolworth sit-in occurred. “This was the most violently attacked sit-in during the 1960s. A huge mob gathered, with open police support while the three of us sat there for three hours. I was attacked with fists, brass knuckles and the broken portions of glass sugar containers, and was burned with cigarettes.” —John Salter (Hunter Bear), seated in photo with Joan Trumpauer (now Mulholland), and Anne Moody (author of Coming of Age in Mississippi).

More information on the sit-ins is available here. Learn more about the Jackson sit-in in the book We Shall Not Be Moved: The Jackson Woolworth’s Sit-In and the Movement It Inspired and its website.

The Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement website also offers important information and resources, as does the book Coming of Age in Mississippi.

1963 was an important and volatile year for the Civil Rights Movement and Jackson, Mississippi, where this sit-in took place, was particularly marked by violence and protest.

As we work in class, try to reflect on the fact that this protest, and others like it, took place just four years after A Raisin in the Sun premiered on Broadway.  This moment is only 52 years away from us today and if your parents don't remember it, your grandparents do.