I read recently of the death of Franklin McCain who was one of the four young black college students who conducted the most significant "sit-in" at a Woolworth lunch counter on Feb. 1, 1960. The state was North Carolina and the group sought service on four days without success; but the article notes, no violence. On the fifth day, after news got around, a crowd of 1000 gathered at the store and Woolworth decided to change their policy and serve blacks. The students tactic involved the purchase of items in the store-school supplies-and then showing their receipt at the lunch counter and openly noting that if the store was willing to take their money to buy store items they should also take their money to serve them food. Mr McCain gave an interview in 2010 to discuss the events then. He said a black dishwasher in the store accused the four of being "rabble-rousers" and the sit-in would hurt black people. The article I read indicated that while there were some who were verbally hostile, their was no physical violence and even some who encouraged them. He also noted that a "white woman said she was proud of the young men and she wished they had acted 10 years ago".
(Source: "One of Greensboro Four countered segregation" by Douglas Martin of the New York Times. In The Virginian Pilot on 1/12/14)
