Greensboro Sit-Ins

ca. 1960

Sit-Ins were powerful forms of protest during the Civil Rights Movement.

The Civil Rights Movement (1950s–1960s) arose in response to racism, segregation, and violence against African Americans. Activists protested racism and segregation through nonviolent actions, including organized sit-ins at segregated restaurants. .

Student activists in Greensboro, South Carolina, sat in these stools at the segregated lunch counter in the F. W. Woolworth department store. When asked to leave, they refused, even while facing arrest and physical violence. The students’ courage inspired a wave of sit-ins across America, and the efforts of American civil rights activists inspired other social justice movements worldwide.