February One: Marking the Legacy of the A&T Four

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February One: Marking the Legacy of the A&T Four

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University Aggie Digital Collections and Scholarship A&T Four: A Closer Look 1-24-2007 February One: Marking the Legacy of the A&T Four Sophia Downing Follow this and additional works at: https://digital.library.ncat.edu/atfour FEBRUARY ONE The A& T Register PREVIEW Wednesday, January 24, 2007 Marking the legacy of the A&T Four Sophia Downing living in the apartheid era in ology teacher at A&T, reflects thing and move on such con Contributor South Africa. on Greensboro during the time venti on at such a young age," The decision of the A&T of the civil rights movement. Rashid said. The university will have its Four to begin a sit-in at Wool "A&T was in Greensboro, Randall Ellington, a junior annual breakfast to honor the worth's restaurant over 40 years but it was not apart of Greens- communication studies major, A&T Four on Thursday, ago impacted the civil rights boro," Brandon said. commends the A&T Four for Feb.!. This year's theme is movement. The sit-ins were an act to taking the initiative as freshmen "Reclaiming Our Heritage; Re At the time, African Ameri bring about change, equality and to change the world . defining Our Legacy." cans were not allowed to sit and justice. Rashid stated that these "As a student, I feel J have For almost 20 years, A&T eat inside of restaurants. acts are extremely important to some big shoes to fill because of has held this event to celebrate Dr. Judy Rashid, dean of stu the history of our school. the university's representation the legacy of Frank McCain, dents, said students can not be "The significance of the A&T given by the A&T Four," Elling Jibreel Khazan, Joseph McNeil gin to fathom not being able to Four's contributions to civil _ ton said. and the late David Richmond. sit down in a restaurant. rights is that they accomplished On Thursday, breakfast with Along with the A&T Four She described the time period it while they were students," she the A&T Four will begin at 6 at Thursday morning's break of the sit-in as one with a lot of said. a.l11 . in Williams Cafeteria. fast will be special guest Naomi social injustice. Rashid wants every student After the breakfast, everyone Tutu. "A lot of privileges the black to know that while in school we can attend the ceremonial lay Tutu is the daughter of Arch man did not have because of the can make a difference. ing of the wreath in front of the bishop Desmond and Nomalizo color of his skin," Rashid said. The one word that many Dudley Building. Leah Tutu and will be the desig Different faculty and staff students and staff are saying to At 3 p.m., students and the nated speaker and an activist for members, who are here now, describe the A&T Four is coura- community will meet in Stall human rights. were students during the sit-in geous. ings Ballroom located in the At the breakfast, Tutu will movement. ''It was remarkable that four union for a round-table discus share her personal stories about Lewis Brandon, a former bi- men could think about the same sian. .

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A&T Four Box 0002
Inventory of the A&T Four Collection, Box 002 Contact Information Archives and Special Collections F.D. Bluford Library North Carolina A&T State University Greensboro, NC 27411 Telephone: 336-285-4176 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.library.ncat.edu/resources/archives Descriptive Summary Repository F. D. Bluford Library Archives and Special Collections Creator Franklin McCain Ezell Blair, Jr. (Jibreel Khazan) David Richmond, Sr. Joseph Mc Neil Title “A&T Four” Box #2 Language of Materials English Extent 1 archival boxes, 121 items, 1.75 linear feet Abstract The Collection consists Events programs and newspaper articles and editorials commemorating the 1960 sit-ins over the years from 1970s to 2000s. The articles cover how A&T, Greensboro and the nation honor the Four and the sit-in movement and its place in history. They also put it in context of racial relations contemporary with their publication. Administrative Information Restrictions to Access No Restrictions Acquisitions Information Please consult Archives Staff for additional information. Processing Information Processed by James R. Jarrell, April 2005; Edward Lee Love, Fall 2016. Preferred Citation [Identification of Item], in the A&T Four Box 2, Archives and Special Collections, Bluford Library, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, NC. Copyright Notice North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College owns copyright to this collection. Individuals obtaining materials from Bluford Library are responsible for using the works in conformance with United State Copyright Law as well as any restriction accompanying the materials. Biographical Note On February 1, 1960, NC A&T SU freshmen Franklin McCain, David Richmond, Joseph McNeil, and Ezell Blair (Jibreel Khazan) sat down at the whites only lunch counter at the F.W.
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FEBRUARY ONE Lesson Plan Pbs.Org/Independentlens/Februaryone the Greensboro Sit-Ins: a Continuing Tradition of Nonviolent Protest
FEBRUARY ONE Lesson Plan pbs.org/independentlens/februaryone The Greensboro Sit-Ins: A Continuing Tradition of Nonviolent Protest Grade Levels: 8-12 Estimated time: Four class periods (three if you choose to assign the Assessment activity for homework) Introduction: The Greensboro Four were adamant that their lunch counter protest be nonviolent. They based this philosophy on the teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi, who received much of their guidance from the teachings of Jesus as outlined in the Sermon on the Mount in the Bible’s New Testament. The success of their protest has been attributed in large part to its adherence to this nonviolent approach. Students will learn more about the philosophy of nonviolence by reading a sermon given by Dr. King, two passages about Gandhi, and some verses from the Sermon on the Mount. They will view the FEBRUARY ONE program with the goal of learning about the nonviolent approach and seeing how this technique succeeded. They will also read the letter that the Greensboro Four wrote to people who were considering participating in the sit-ins. They will conclude the lesson by imagining that they’re organizing a protest after the sit-ins and writing letters that explain the nonviolent method to people who are considering joining the protest. It would be ideal if students have a general understanding of the Civil Rights Movement before doing this lesson. Lesson Objectives: Students will: • Review some basic information about the Civil Rights Movement. • Watch an excerpt from FEBRUARY ONE which provides a historical background to the Greensboro sit-ins and introduces the protest, and consider what they might do in a situation similar in which the Greensboro students found themselves.
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Freedom on the Menu: the Greensboro Sit-Ins Lesson
WTTM 2016 Grade 2 Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins Lesson Summary Students will explore how segregation affected every day and ways to respond to injustice and discrimination. This will lead into discussion of civil disobedience, non-violent demonstrations, and the power of the written word. After engaging students in a discussion of segregation, the teacher reads Freedom on the Menu to second graders. The teacher then leads students in discussion of major issues raised by the text. Students brainstorm slogans and design signs that they would have carried on the picket lines. Introduction On February 1, 1960, four African-American students of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University sat at a white-only lunch counter inside a Greensboro, North Carolina Woolworth’s store. While sit-ins had been held elsewhere in the United States, the Greensboro sit-in catalyzed a wave of nonviolent protest against private-sector segregation. Materials Photo handout Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins by Carole Boston Weatherford Markers and paper Procedures 1. Distribute photo handout to students. Define segregation for the students and ask them to find examples of segregation in the pictures. Explain that segregation was part of a larger set of laws called Jim Crow laws. Cite several laws that affected children: separate rooms or sections of restaurants and libraries, separate schools, theaters, lunch counters and public parks, and separate ticket offices and entrances to circuses and other shows. One North Carolina law stated, “Books shall not be interchangeable the white and colored school, but shall continue to be used by the race first using them.” 2.
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February One
February One Documentary Film Study Guide By Rebecca Cerese & Diane Wright Available online at www.newsreel.org Film Synopsis Greensboro, North Carolina, was a fairly typical Southern city in the middle of the 20th Century. The city was certainly segregated, but city officials prided themselves on handling race relations with more civility than many other Southern cities. Ezell Blair, Jr. (who later changed his name to Jibreel Khazan) was the son of an early member of the NAACP, who introduced him to the idea of activism at an early age. Ezell attended segregated Dudley High School, where he befriended Franklin McCain. Franklin, raised in the more racially open city of Washington, DC, was angered by the segregation he encountered in Greensboro. Ezell and Franklin became fast friends with David Richmond, the most popular student at Dudley High. In 1958, Ezell and David heard Martin Luther King, Jr., speak at Bennett College in Greensboro. At the same time, the rapid spread of television was bringing images of oppression and conflict from around the world into their living rooms. Ezell was inspired by the non-violent movement for independence led by Mahatma Gandhi and chilled by the brutal murder of Emmett Till. In the fall of 1959, Ezell, Franklin, and David enrolled in Greensboro’s all-black college, North Carolina A&T State University. Ezell’s roommate was Joseph McNeil, an idealistic young man from New York City. Ezell, Franklin, David, and Joseph became a close-knit group and got together for nightly bull sessions in their dorm rooms. During this time they began to consider challenging the institution of segregation.
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International Civil Rights Center & Museum
★ Celebrate Greensboro art. Culture. Entertainment. By Tara TiTcomBe A movement that inspired the nation The International Civil Rights Center & Museum must-see vital piece of history stands and the following with more in the center of downtown Greensboro, than 300. By the end of that March, similar protests were welcoming and educating all who visit. taking place in more than The International Civil Rights Center 55 cities and 13 states. The & Museum tells the story of the non- non-violent sit-in movement was born, and the nation would tre violent civil rights movement that be- never be the same. A the gan 51 years ago in its very location. Today the International A rolin Civil Rights Center & A Museum, housed in the former the c M F AOn February 1, 1960, four African-American Woolworth store in downtown Greensboro, freshmen from Greensboro’s N.C. A&T State celebrates that moment in history and University sat down at the F.W. Woolworth remains devoted to the global struggle for enter & Museu c store’s “whites only” civil and human rights. ights r Visit, ExplorE , Learn lunch counter and The two-floor, 43,000-square-foot ivil c For more information on Greensboro’s ordered coffee. They museum opened on February 1, 2010 — l A International Civil Rights Center & were denied service, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the tion A Museum, stop by 134 South Elm St., call nd (right) Andy Ferrell/courtesy o 336 . 274.9199 or 800.748 .7 116, or check ignored, then asked to sit-ins.
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Inventory of the A&T Four Collection, Box
Inventory of the A&T Four Collection, Box 001 Contact Information Archives and Special Collections F.D. Bluford Library North Carolina A&T State University Greensboro, NC 27411 Telephone: 336-285-4176 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.library.ncat.edu/resources/archives Descriptive Summary Repository F.D. Bluford Library Archives and Special Collections Creator Franklin McCain Ezell Blair, Jr. (Jibreel Khazan) David Richmond, Sr. Joseph Mc Neil Title “A&T Four” Box #1 Language of Materials English Extent 1 archival boxes, 121 items, 1.8 linear feet Abstract The Collection consists of four folders. One folder is for Joseph McNeil and the other three for David Richmond, two of the four A&T freshmen who started the sit-in movement when they sat down at a whites only lunch counter at Woolworth’s in Greensboro, NC. In later years, the men would be awarded honorary degrees, a documentary made, a statue of them erected on the A&T Campus, and the opening of the Civil Rights Museum in downtown Greensboro. The folders contain brief biographies, and news articles referencing the men specifically and the A&T Four generally. The time period of the articles are mostly from the years following the sit- ins movements as well as the time periods of and following each of the two men’s deaths. Administrative Information Restrictions to Access No Restrictions Acquisitions Information Transferred from the Office of the Chancellor. Please consult Archives Staff for additional information. Processing Information Processed by James R. Jarrell, April 2005; Edward Lee Love, Fall 2016. Preferred Citation [Identification of Item], in the A&T Four Box 1, Archives and Special Collections, F.
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FEBRUARY ONE RELEASE.Qk
NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Cara White 843/881-1480 [email protected] Mary Lugo 770/623-8190 [email protected] Randall Cole 415/356-8383 x254 [email protected] Wilson Ling 415/356-8383 x231 [email protected] Pressroom for more information and/or downloadable images: www.itvs.org/pressroom/photos Program companion website: www.pbs.org/februaryone INDEPENDENT LENS’s “FEBRUARY ONE: The Story of the Greensboro Four” CAPTURES CITY OF PERPETUAL CHANGE Film About Four College Students Who Changed History To Be Shown On 45th Anniversary Of Woolworth Lunch Counter Sit-In Film by Steven Channing and Rebecca Cerese Premieres Nationally on “Independent Lens” Emmy® Award-Winning Series on PBS Hosted by Susan Sarandon FEBRUARY ONE Tuesday, February 1, 2005 at 10 P.M. (check local listings) Celebrating Black History Month (San Francisco, CA) — Independent Len’s FEBRUARY ONE is the story of how, in one remarkable day, four college freshmen—Ezell Blair, Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan), David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil— changed the course of American history. On February 1, 1960, the young men, later dubbed the “Greensboro Four,” began a sit-in at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in a small town in North Carolina. The act of simply sitting down to order food in a restaurant that refused service to anyone but whites is now widely regarded as one of the pivotal moments in the Civil Rights movement. But what rarely gets told is how four idealistic college students became friends and inspired one another to stage the sit-in, or how the burden of history has impacted their lives ever since.
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A&T Four Box 0003
Inventory of the A&T Four Collection Box 0003 Contact Information Archives and Special Collections F.D. Bluford Library North Carolina A&T State University Greensboro, NC 27411 Telephone: 336-285-4176 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.library.ncat.edu/resources/archives/index.html Descriptive Summary Repository F. D. Bluford Library Archives and Special Collections Creator Dr. Franklin McCain, Sr. Dr. Ezell Blair, Jr. (Dr. Jibreel Khazan), Dr. David Richmond, Sr. Dr. Joseph Mc Neil Title “A&T Four” Box 0003 Language of Materials English Extent 1 archival boxes, 1.25 linear feet (16 inches) Abstract The Collection consists of events programs, newspaper articles, and editorials commemorating the 1960 sit-ins over the years from 1970s to 2000s. The articles cover how A&T, Greensboro and the nation honor the Four and the sit-in movement and its place in history. They also put it in context of racial relations contemporary with their publication. Articles and papers also cover the erection of the statue at A&T of the four, the establishment of the Civil Rights Museum in downtown Greensboro and the airing of the documentary February One. Administrative Information Restrictions to Access No Restrictions Acquisitions Information Please consult Archives Staff for additional information. Processing Information Processed by James R. Jarrell, April 2005; Edward Lee Love, Fall 2016 – Spring 2017 Preferred Citation [Identification of Item], in the A&T Four Box 3, Archives and Special Collections, Bluford Library, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, NC. Copyright Notice North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College owns copyright to this collection.
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U.S. CIVIL RIGHTS TRAIL JOURNEY NORTH CAROLINA Durham Greensboro Raleigh
U.S. CIVIL RIGHTS TRAIL JOURNEY NORTH CAROLINA Durham Greensboro Raleigh Greensboro - Durham (52 mins.) Durham - Raleigh (30 mins.) The U.S. Civil Rights Trail spans 14 states, features more than 100 sites and highlights the country’s civil rights story. Your journey along the trail begins in Greensboro, North Carolina. International Civil Rights Center & Museum Greensboro, NC DAY 1 – GREENSBORO International Civil Rights Center & Museum North Carolina’s third largest city was known Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr. and Joseph for denim until 1960, when four college McNeil from North Carolina Agricultural & freshmen put Greensboro on the map as the Technical College sat at the “whites only” launchpad of the sit-in movement. The site lunch counter and challenged the laws of of their nonviolent protest and its historical segregation. Though not the first sit-in of the significance compels visitors and offers a civil rights era, the actions of the Greensboro meaningful experience. Four on Monday, Feb. 1, 1960, spread across the South, energized the movement and International Civil Rights Center & Museum effected change. The Battlegrounds, a Explore civil rights history in downtown permanent installation that centers on the Greensboro along Elm Street. Make quest for equality, features pictorials, video reservations for a guided tour at the F.W. reenactments, interactive components and Woolworth building, where David Richmond, artifacts, including the lunch counter and stools where the students sat. Historical Markers Look for markers recognizing Albion Tourgée (Homer Plessy’s future attorney), Levi Coffin and the Underground Railroad, N.C. A&T alumnus Henry Frye, the trial of Benjamin Benson, and the sit-ins at the S.H.
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Ezell Blair) Collection
Inventory of the Jibreel Khazan (Ezell Blair) Collection Contact Information Archives and Special Collections F.D. Bluford Library North Carolina A&T State University Greensboro, NC 27411 Telephone: 336-285-4176 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.library.ncat.edu/resources/archives Descriptive Summary Repository F. D. Bluford Library Archives & Special Collections Creator Jibreel Khazan (Ezell Blair) Title Jibreel Khazan (Ezell Blair) Collection Language of Materials English Extent 1 archival boxes, 205 items, 1.45 linear feet Abstract Administrative Information Restrictions to Access No Restrictions Acquisitions Information Transferred from the Office of the Chancellor. Please consult Archives Staff for additional information. Processing Information Processed by James R. Jarrell, April 2005; Edward Lee Love, Fall 2016 Preferred Citation [Identification of Item], in the Jibreel Khazan (Ezell Blair) Collection, Bluford Library, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, NC. Copyright Notice North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College owns copyright to this collection. Individuals obtaining materials from Bluford Library are responsible for using the works in conformance with United State Copyright Law as well as any restriction accompanying the materials. Biographical Note Jibreel Khazan (Ezell Blair, Jr.) was born in Greensboro, North Carolina. He graduated from Dudley High School and attended A&T with an A&T College Alumni Association Scholarship. His freshman roommate was Joseph McNeil. On February 1, 1960, he, his roommate McNeil and fellow A&T college freshmen David Richmond and Franklin McCain sat down at the whites only lunch counter in Woolworth’s in Greensboro, NC and refused to leave. This act of civil disobedience would launch other sit-ins.
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February One
February One A film review by Paul T. Miller Paul T. Miller ([email protected]) is a doctorial candidate in the African American Studies Department at Temple University. His dissertation on the history of African Americans in San Francisco from 1945-1975, and lives in Oakland, California. February One, 2004. Executive Producer: Dr. Steven Channing. Video Dialog. Duration: 57 minutes (available in DVD or VHS, distributor: California Newsreel). February One is an hour-long documentary that focuses on the four friends who initiated the Greensboro sit-in movement, thereby jumpstarting a wave of civil rights direct action protests across the South. Using dramatic reenactments, ethnographic interviews, photo stills and archival footage, this Video Dialog film explores the intensely personal motives behind Ezell Blair, Jr. (Jibreel Khazan), Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil and David Richmond collective decision to sit-in at a downtown Woolworth’s lunch counter, and the enormous public impact this decision would have on the civil rights movement. Beginning with photo stills and archival footage, February One claims that from the end of the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1957 to the beginning of the sit-in movement on February 1, 1960 there was nearly no action in the civil rights movement. It was into this dormant atmosphere that three high school friends and another that they would befriend at North Carolina A & T started what Franklin McCain describes as a “strictly personal” journey to gain manhood and dignity. Blair, McCain and Richmond , friends from Dudley High School , met McNeil at A&T and the four became fast friends who would discuss ideals and ideas in “dorm sessions”, evening talks that focused on how to make their community a better and more equal place.
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A Counter Revolution: the Fight Against Segregated Dining
A “Counter Revolution:” The Fight Against Segregated Dining “By sitting down, we were standing up for the very best of the American tradition,” Rep. John Lewis Overview It’s a simple act, sitting down and sharing food with another person. But throughout the American south and especially before the 1960s, this was not the case. According to local customs and city ordinances under the oppressive system of Jim Crow, it was taboo and illegal for black people and people of color to dine with whites in public. That is, until engaged and courageous “ordinary” people changed all that. In this lesson, students will explore the sit-in movement that challenged and eventually toppled segregation in food service facilities, from the 1960 Greensboro sit-ins to the less well-known Royal Ice Cream Parlor in Durham. Grades 8-11 Essential Questions • What is segregation and what effects did it have on southern communities? • How did the sit-in movement start and what were its goals and strategies? • How did nonviolent direct-action expose the injustice of segregation? • What impact did the Greensboro sit-ins have (locally and nationally?) • Why is it important to study, remember and honor the actions of civil rights activists such as those who participated in the “Long Civil Rights Movement?” Materials o The Greensboro Sit-In Power Point, located in Carolina K-12’s Database of K-12 Resources at https://k12database.unc.edu/files/2012/04/GreensboroSitInsCounterRevolutionPPT.pdf o To view this PDF as a projectable presentation, save the file, click “View” in the top menu bar of the file, and select “Full Screen Mode”; upon completion of presentation, hit ESC on your keyboard to exit the file o To request an editable PPT version of this presentation, send a request to [email protected] • Reflections on the Greensboro Sit Ins, 6 min.
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