Wichita stakes a claim to first lunch counter sit-in
The Wichita Eagle reports today that the NAACP will officially recognize the Kansas city, rather than Greensboro, as the site of the first lunch counter sit-in.
"Wichita's protest was in July 1958, when about 20 black teenagers and young adults sat down at the lunch counter in the Dockum Drug Store downtown, rather than getting their food to go," the paper reports.
"Greensboro's protest didn't occur until more than a year later, when four teenagers sat down at a Woolworth's lunch counter in February 1960."
This is news to me. Of course, it doesn't diminish the importance of the sit-in movement launched in Greensboro.
Addendum: There's no mention of the Wichita sit-ins on the civil rights movement timeline at sitins.com
Further addendum: The International Civil Rights Center and Museum Web site does mention Wichita as one of several cities where "similar incidents" took place before the Greensboro sit-ins.
Yet another addendum (12:37 p.m.): John White of the NAACP clarifies that organization's position. It will extend some form of recognition to many sit-in events, he told me, but, "We're not judging which was first or most important. They were all important."
There could have been some before Wichita.
White, who grew up in Baltimore, added a personal note: "If somebody said sit-in, I thought of Greensboro."
Comments (4)
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These are fightin' words, Doug! We have to challenge Wichita to a "lunch off". We get a team from Greensboro NAACP and challenge Wichita to a lunch-off at a neutral site. Whoever can eat the most in forty-five minutes is declared the winner and has the right to say they were the first. We could get sponsers like Oscar Mayer, Perdue, Texas Peete etc. ESPN will get the rights. Nobody can take this from us!
Posted on June 2, 2006 10:40 AM
I don't think there will be a dispute. The Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro doesn't make any claim that the first sit-in was here, only that it was a pivotal event that launched a movement across the South -- which is true.
Posted on June 2, 2006 10:46 AM
Reminds me of the argument over the Joe Rosenthal picture of the Iwo Jima flag raising on Mt. Surabachi during WWII. The much-publicized photo was actually the raising of the second flag, not the first.
At in that case, it's the symbolism that's important here.
Now if we could only find another $20 million or so to finish the litle storefront on Elm St....
Posted on June 2, 2006 4:41 PM
Congress of Racial Equality has two sit-ins posted in 1943. But they recognize that Greensboro was the first publicized event that launched it into another level.
Check these the wikipedia entry on sit in and the CORE history on sit-ins.
This is just another case of NAACP not actually bothering to do any background work with readily available materials. Took me about 5 minutes to find.
Posted on June 4, 2006 10:33 AM