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On March 4, 1960, students from Texas Southern University marched from their campus to Weingarten Supermarket and conducted a sit-in at the white-only lunch counter. This was Houston's first major sit-in and was one of several sit-ins taking place throughout the South in the wake of the Greensboro sit-ins that began on February 1st.

Students sitting at the counter during the protest

Students sitting at the counter during the protest
The Civil Rights Movement essentially began in 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to move from her seat to the back of the bus on which she was a passenger. Five years later, as stated above, the first sit-in occurred at a Woolworth's in Greenboro, North Carolina. 

Seventeen students began met on Texas Southern University's campus and began a 45 minute walk to the sit-in location, what was then a grocery store called Weingarten (it is now a U.S Post Office). Along the way, others joined them. Like other sit-ins around the country at the time, they were insulted and sat for several hours without being served. Their efforts eventually worked: by the end of the year most of Houston's businesses were desegregated. 
Mendoza, Moises. "Houston honors TSU pioneers for sit-in that made strides." Houston Chronicle. March 4, 2010. http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Houston-honors-TSU-pioneers-for-sit-in-that-made-169...

"TSU Students Recreate First Sit-in in Houston in 1960." ABC Inc., KTRK-TV Houston. March 04, 2016. http://abc13.com/education/tsu-students-recreate-first-sit-in-in-houston-in-1960/1231830.

"50th Anniversary Of Houston’s First Sit-In." Praise 102.1 FM. Accessed July 8, 2015. http://praisehouston.hellobeautiful.com/1323841/50th-anniversary-of-houstons-first-sit-in.