Lunch Counter Sit-Ins Began 39 Years Ago

Dozens of people gathered for a breakfast this morning to mark the first lunch counter sit-in, which was staged at the downtown Woolworth's in Greensboro.

It was 39 years ago when four black students from North Carolina A&T University sat down and demanded service. It had long been law or policy in the South for blacks and whites not to eat in the same restaurants.

Hundreds of others joined the sit-in, and shut down the busy lunch counter. The sit-ins started a movement that rolled across the South.

By the way, the historic downtown Greensboro Woolworth store closed its doors several years ago. A plaque had been affixed to the building's exterior wall, however, to mark the site.