Four students from North Carolina A&T - Ezell Blair Jr., Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond - sit at a whites-only Woolworth's lunch counter and refuse to leave when denied service.
At a Glance
- Date
- 1 February 1960
- Location
- Greensboro, North Carolina
- Key people
- Ezell Blair Jr. (Jibreel Khazan), Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, David Richmond
- Category
- Civil Rights Movement
- Source
- Contemporary press accounts, February 1, 1960 · Smithsonian NMAH
What It Meant Then
It sparked a wave of sit-ins that spread to dozens of cities and helped launch the student phase of the movement.
What It Means Now
The Greensboro Four are memorialized at the International Civil Rights Center & Museum on the original site.
Also on 1 February
Cite this page
- MLA
- “The Greensboro Sit-In Begins.” Black-History.com, 30 Sept. 2026, https://black-history.com/on-this-day/the-greensboro-sit-in-begins/.
- APA
- Black-History.com Editors. (2026, September 30). The Greensboro Sit-In Begins. Black-History.com. https://black-history.com/on-this-day/the-greensboro-sit-in-begins/
- Chicago
- Black-History.com Editors. “The Greensboro Sit-In Begins.” Black-History.com. September 30, 2026. https://black-history.com/on-this-day/the-greensboro-sit-in-begins/.
Editorial Note
By the Black-History.com editors. Last reviewed 30 September 2026. To suggest a primary source or a correction, write to editors@black-history.com or use our corrections form.