Clarence Fort cautiously approached the lunch counter. He tried not to appear nervous, despite the fact that inside he was already running away.
He took the first seat, joined soon after by a few of his friends. The waiter came toward the group, but instead of menus he presented a sign: "Closed."
The date: Feb. 29, 1960. The place: the Woolworth's lunch counter in downtown Tampa. The city's black residents had just taken another step in the national civil rights movement - a step towards becoming citizens.
Fort would return to the Franklin Street Woolworth's three more times, and other members of his NAACP Youth Council "sat-in" at W.T. Grant's lunch counter around the corner.
Finally, six months later, those counters, and others like them across the city, were open to all races. There was sporadic violence during the first few days, but no blood was shed and the only police involvement came when two whites were removed from Walgreens because they became abusive to those protesting the segregated arrangements.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement
Advertisement