Sit-in movement explained
Sit-in movement |
Partof: | the Civil Rights Movement |
Date: | February 1, 1960 – 1964 |
Place: | United States |
Causes: |
|
Side1: | Student activists |
Side2: | Segregated businesses |
The sit-in movement, sit-in campaign, or student sit-in movement, was a wave of sit-ins that followed the Greensboro sit-ins on February 1, 1960, led by students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical Institute (A&T).[1] The sit-in movement employed the tactic of nonviolent direct action and was a pivotal event during the Civil Rights Movement.[2]
African-American college students attending historically Black colleges and universities in the United States powered the sit-in movement across the country. Many students across the country followed by example, as sit-ins provided a powerful tool for students to use to attract attention.[3] The students of Baltimore made use of this in 1960 when many used the efforts to desegregate department store restaurants, which proved to be successful lasting about three weeks. This was one small role Baltimore played in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The city facilitated social movements as it saw bus and taxi companies hiring African Americans in 1951–1952.[4] Sit-ins also frequented segregated facilities in Oklahoma City between 1958 and 1964.[5]
Students at Morgan State College in Baltimore, Maryland, successfully deployed sit-ins and other direct action protest tactics against lunch counters in the city since at least 1953. One notable successful student sit-in occurred in 1955 at Read's Drug Store.[6] Despite also being led by students and successfully resulting in the end of segregation at a store lunch counter, the Read's Drug Store sit-in would not receive the same level of attention that was later given to the Greensboro sit-ins.[7] Two store lunch counter sit-ins which occurred in Wichita, Kansas and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1958 also proved successful, and would employ tactics that were in fact similar to the future Greensboro sit-ins.[8] [9] The local chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality had had similar success. Witnessing the unprecedented visibility afforded in the white-oriented mainstream media to the 1960 sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina, Morgan students (and others, including those from the Johns Hopkins University) continued sit-in campaigns already underway at department store restaurants near their campus. There were massive amounts of support from the community for the student’s efforts, but more importantly, white involvement and support grew in favor of the desegregation of department store restaurants.[10] Sit-ins were by far the most prominent in 1960, however, they were still a useful tactic in the civil rights movement in the years following. In February 1961, students from Friendship Junior College in Rock Hill, South Carolina, organized a sit-in at a segregated lunch counter. The students were then arrested and refused to pay bail. This was part of their "Jail, No Bail" strategy,[11] they instead decided to serve jail time as a demonstration of their commitment to the civil rights movement.
An additional important event in the process of granting civil rights was the sit-ins that occurred in Albany, Georgia. These sit-ins were useful tactics that started in December 1961. They used sit-ins, boycotts, and marches to achieve their goal of ending segregation in public facilities. The Freedom Rides of 1961 also played a crucial role, with activists. Participating in sit-ins at segregated bus terminals across the South to challenge segregation in interstate transportation. This and other strong actions helped propel momentum and eventually helped lead to the removal of segregation laws in the United States.
The sit-ins in Greensboro invigorated U.S. civil rights movements by reinforcing the success of other protests like the Montgomery bus boycott, which had shown how effectively a mass of people could change public opinions and governmental policies.[12]
List of sit-ins
Precursors to sit-in movement
Beginning with Greensboro sit-ins
Related post-1960 sit-ins
See also
Further reading
Books
- Book: Carson. Clayborne. In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s. 1981. Harvard University Press. 9780674447271.
- Book: Meier. August. Rudwick. Elliott M.. CORE: A Study in the Civil Rights Movement, 1942–1968. 1975. University of Illinois Press. 9780252005671.
- Book: Morgan. Iwan W.. Davies. Philip. From Sit-ins to SNCC: The Student Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. 2012. University Press of Florida. 9780813041513.
- Book: Oppenheimer. Martin. The Sit-In Movement of 1960. 1989. Carlson Publishing. 9780926019102.
- Book: Schmidt. Christopher W.. The Sit-Ins: Protest and Legal Change in the Civil Rights Era. 2018. University of Chicago Press. 9780226522449.
- Book: Terry. David Taft. The Struggle and the Urban South. 2019. University of Georgia Press. 9780820355078.
Journals
- Ervin. Brad. Result or Reason: The Supreme Court and the Sit-In Cases. Virginia Law Review. March 2007. 93. 1. 181–233.
- Gilbert. Martin G.. Theories of State Action as Applied to the Sit-in Cases. Arkansas Law Review. Summer 1963. 17. 147–.
- Hamm v. City of Rock Hill: Out of the Frying Pan. Ohio State Law Journal. 1965. 26. 4. 659–678. 1811/68789.
- Lewis. Thomas P.. The Sit-in Cases: Great Expectations. The Supreme Court Review. 1963. 1963. 101–151. 10.1086/scr.1963.3108730. 146825976.
- Morris. Aldon. Black Southern Student Sit-in Movement: An Analysis of Internal Organization. American Sociological Review. December 1981. 46. 6. 744–767. https://web.archive.org/web/20200807054000/http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/polisci/faculty/chwe/ps269/morris.pdf. dead. August 7, 2020. 10.2307/2095077. 2095077.
- Paulsen. Monrad G.. The Sit-in Cases of 1964: "But Answer Came There None". Supreme Court Review. 1964. 1964. 137–. 10.1086/scr.1964.3108696. 147484895.
- Pollitt. Daniel H.. Dime Store Demonstrations: Events and Legal Problems of First Sixty Days. Duke Law Journal. 1960. 9. 1. 315–365. 10.2307/1371082. 1371082.
- Riva. Sarah. Desegregating Downtown Little Rock: The Field Reports of SNCC's Bill Hansen, October 23 to December 3, 1962. The Arkansas Historical Quarterly. Autumn 2012. 71. 3. 264–282.
- Schmidt. Christopher W.. The Sit-Ins and the State Action Doctrine. William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal. 2010. 18. 3. 767–829.
- Schmidt. Christopher W.. Divided by Law: The Sit-Ins and the Role of the Courts in the Civil Rights Movement. Law and History Review. February 1, 2015. 33. 1. 93–149. 10.1017/S0738248014000509. 232400894.
- Schmidt. Christopher W.. Why the 1960 Lunch Counter Sit-Ins Worked: A Case Study of Law and Social Movement Mobilization. Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality. Spring 2017. 5. 2. 281–300.
- Walters. Ronald. Standing Up in America's Heartland: Sitting in Before Greensboro. American Visions. February 1993. 8. 1. 20–23.
External links
Notes and References
- Kowal . Rebekah J. . 2004 . Staging the Greensboro Sit-Ins . TDR (1988-) . 48 . 4 . 135–154 . 1054-2043.
- Flowers. Deidre B.. January 2005. The Launching of the Student Sit-in Movement: The Role of Black Women at Bennett College. The Journal of African American History. 90. 1–2. 52–63. 10.1086/jaahv90n1-2p52. 140781391. 1548-1867.
- Web site: The Sit-In Movement [ushistory.org]]. www.ushistory.org. 2019-04-30.
- April 1982. William H. Chafe . Civilities and Civil Rights: Greensboro, North Carolina, and the Black Struggle for Freedom. New York. Oxford University Press. xii, 436. The American Historical Review. 10.1086/ahr/87.2.565. 1937-5239.
- Web site: 60 Years Later, Oklahoma's Sit-In Movement is Remembered . . August 12, 2018.
- Web site: Liu . Nancy . 11 September 2011 . Baltimore, MD, students sit-in to integrate Read's drug stores, USA, 1955 . 25 May 2023 . Global Nonviolent Action Database . Swarthmore.
- News: Pousson . Eli . Read's Drug Store . May 25, 2023 . baltimoreheritage.org.
- News: Dockum Drug Store Sit-In . May 25, 2023 . Kansas Historical Society.
- News: Backburn . Bob L. . July 29, 2018 . African-American history in Oklahoma contains sit-ins, soldiers, entrepreneurs and more . May 25, 2023 . The Oklahoman.
- Web site: Baltimore Sit-Ins . Nonviolent Datebase.
- Schmidt . Christopher W. . 2015 . Divided by Law: The Sit-ins and the Role of the Courts in the Civil Rights Movement . Law and History Review . 33 . 1 . 93–149 . 0738-2480.
- Kowal . Rebekah J. . 2004 . Staging the Greensboro Sit-Ins . TDR (1988-) . 48 . 4 . 135–154 . 1054-2043.
- Book: Mitchell-Powell. Brenda. Kimball. Melanie A.. Wisser. Katherine M.. Libraries – Traditions and Innovations: Papers from the Library History Seminar XIII. 2017. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. 9783110448566. 70–99. The 1939 Alexandria, Virginia, Public Library Sit-in Demonstration. https://books.google.com/books?id=KK7bDgAAQBAJ&q=alexandria+library+sit+in&pg=PT84.
- Book: Smith. J. Douglas. Managing White Supremacy: Race, Politics, and Citizenship in Jim Crow Virginia. 2003. University of North Carolina Press. 9780807862261. 259–270.
- Shah. Aarushi H.. All of Africa Will Be Free Before We Can Get a Lousy Cup of Coffee: The Impact of the 1943 Lunch Counter Sit-Ins on the Civil Rights Movement. The History Teacher. November 2012. 46. 1. 127–147.
- Web site: State v. Katz, 241 Iowa 115 Casetext Search + Citator . 2023-10-22 . casetext.com.
- Lambertson. Ross. 2001. "The Dresden Story": Racism, Human Rights, and the Jewish Labour Committee of Canada. Journal of Canadian Labour Studies. 47. 43–82.
- News: Gunts. Edward. Read's Drugstore Flap Brings Baltimore Civil Rights History to Life. 26 December 2016. Baltimore Sun. February 8, 2011.
- Web site: Why the West Side Matters: Read's Drug Store and Baltimore's Civil Rights Heritage. Baltimore Heritage. 26 December 2016. January 7, 2011.
- Book: Greene. Christina. Our Separate Ways: Women and the Black Freedom Movement in Durham, North Carolina. 2006. University of North Carolina Press. 9780807876374. 65–69.
- Walters. Ronald. The Great Plains Sit In Movement, 1958–60. Great Plains Quarterly. Spring 1996. 16. 85–94.
- Graves. Carl R.. The Right to Be Served: Oklahoma City's Lunch Counter Sit-ins, 1958–1964. Chronicles of Oklahoma. Summer 1981. 59. 2. 152–155.
- Book: Chafe. William Henry. Civilities and Civil Rights: Greensboro, North Carolina, and the Black Struggle for Freedom. 1981. Oxford University Press. 9780195029192. 71–101. The Sit-Ins Begin. https://books.google.com/books?id=EP7sduWSTkYC&pg=PA71.
- Web site: The Sit-in Movement. International Civil Rights Center & Museum. 20 March 2016.
- Web site: Civil Rights. williampennproject. en. 2019-11-15.
- Web site: Hampton Roads Heritage Project. Norfolk Public Library. 1 January 2017.
- Ph.D.. White. Robert Melvin. The Tallahassee Sit-ins and CORE, a Nonviolent Revolutionary Submovement. 1964. Florida State University. 7563086.
- M.A.. Harris. Jessie. Unfamiliar Streets: The Chattanooga Sit-ins, the Local Press, and the Concern for Civilities. 2011. Virginia Commonwealth University. 727069042.
- Book: Wallenstein. Peter. Blue Laws and Black Codes: Conflict, Courts, and Change in Twentieth-Century Virginia. 2013. University of Virginia Press. 9780813924878. 114–141. To Sit or Not to Sit: Scenes in Richmond from the Civil Rights Movement. https://books.google.com/books?id=xXI3QHGF4Q8C&q=Richmond+sit-ins&pg=PT91.
- Book: Jensen. F. Kenneth. Beeth. Howard. Wintz. Cary D.. Black Dixie: Afro-Texan History and Culture in Houston. 1992. Texas A&M University Press. 9780890964941. The Houston Sit-In Movement of 1960–61.
- Fleming. Cynthia Griggs. White Lunch Counters and Black Consciousness: The Story of the Knoxville Sit-ins. Tennessee Historical Quarterly. Spring 1990. 49. 1. 40–52.
- Zagumny. Lisa L.. Sit-Ins in Knoxville, Tennessee: A Case Study of Political Rhetoric. The Journal of Negro History. Winter 2001. 86. 1. 45–54. 10.2307/1350178. 1350178. 141496195.
- Book: Garrow. David J.. Atlanta Georgia, 1960–1961: Sit Ins and Student Activism. 1989. Carlson Publishing. 9780926019058.
- Hine . William C. . Civil Rights and Campus Wrongs . South Carolina Historical Magazine . Oct 1996 . 97 . 4 . 320.
- Web site: 2020-12-14 . Remembering the Patterson Six: A decision to make a stand for civil rights earned two R-MWC students jail time—and a spot in history . 2023-03-01 . News and Events . en-US.
- Seals. Donald Jr.. The Wiley-Bishop Student Movement: A Case Study in the 1960 Civil Rights Sit-Ins. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly. January 2003. 106. 3. 418–440.
- Book: Baker. R. Scott. Paradoxes of Desegregation: African American Struggles for Educational Equity in Charleston, South Carolina, 1926–1972. 2006. University of South Carolina Press. 9781570036323. 142–143.
- News: Recalling a 1960 Baltimore Sit-in. 11 December 2016. Politico. Associated Press. October 27, 2013.
- News: Hoyt . William. 'Sit-in' Protest in Flag Revealed at Council Meet . . September 13, 1960 . 1 . October 9, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
- News: Pettus. Emily Wagster. Anne Moody, Sat Stoically at Violent Woolworth's Sit-in, Dies at 74. 11 December 2016. Los Angeles Times. February 10, 2015.
- Book: O'Brien. M. J.. We Shall Not Be Moved: The Jackson Woolworth's Sit-In and the Movement It Inspired. 2013. University Press of Mississippi. 9781617037443.
- Book: Battles. David M.. The History of Public Library Access for African Americans in the South: Or, Leaving Behind the Plow. 2008. Scarecrow Press. 9781461672937. 137–138.