F.W. Woolworth’s Luncheonette Counter

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

On February 1, 1960, Four African-American students from A&T State University stepped into Woolworth’s to protest racial segregation at lunch counters in Greensboro, North Carolina. Fifteen days later, three African-American men entered into the F.W. Woolworth's on Main Street to stage their protest against racial discrimination at lunch counters in Salisbury.

Images

A postcard of Main Street circa 1930. Woolworth's sits in the white building on the left side.

Motor vehicle, Mode of transport, Transport, Road

A Salisbury Post article from 1960 reporting on the sit-in at Woolworth's lunch counter in Salisbury, North Carolina.

The lunch counter from Woolworth's in Salisbury. You can visit the original Woolworth's lunch counter from Salisbury at the North Carolina Museum of History in the "Story of North Carolina" exhibit.

Livingstone no sit-In statement published in the Salisbury Post newspaper on February 14, 1960.

Livingstone no sit-In statement published in the Salisbury Post newspaper on February 14, 1960.

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Three African-American men wearing clerical collars entered F.W. Woolworth’s on Main Street on February 16, 1960. That afternoon, the men sat in the eating area of the variety store and tried to place their orders at the lunch counter. At the time, African-American patrons could shop in the store section of Woolworths, but they could not eat at the lunch counter like White patrons. The men stayed in the store for ten minutes after management refused to serve them and eventually left the lunch counter with no incident. Although a brief moment in Salisbury’s history, the sit-in at Woolworth’s connected to similar student demonstrations that took place across North Carolina as students gathered at segregated lunch counters to protest the discriminatory policies of the store.[1] The sit-in came four days after a committee of Livingstone students indicated that they had no intention of staging a sit-in in Salisbury. The committee stated that establishments in Salisbury served students “without publicity or incident in the past.”[2]

Sources

[1] “Three Sit Down At Woolworth’s; No Service Given,” Salisbury Post, 16 February 1960, Rowan County Public Library, Edith Clark Reading Room Collection.

[2] “ Livingstone Leaders Plan No Sit-Down,” Salisbury Post, 14 February 1960, Rowan County Public Library, Edith Clark History Room.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

"Main Street, Looking North, Salisbury, N.C. North Carolina Postcards, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/nc_post/id/2302/rec/38.

Rowan County Public Library, Edith Clark History Room.

The North Caroline Museum of History.