Sit-in movement

Summary

The sit-in movement, sit-in campaign, or student sit-in movement, was a wave of sit-ins that followed the Greensboro sit-ins on February 1, 1960, led by students – Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain, and Joseph McNeil – at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical Institute (A&T). Sit-ins challenging racial segregation had taken place in earlier years as well, including demonstrations in the Great Plains region in 1958–1960 and other cities prior to Greensboro. Even though the Greensboro sit-in was not the first sit-in, it sparked a wave of sit-ins that created the sit-in movement. The sit-in movement employed the tactic of nonviolent direct action and was a pivotal event during the Civil Rights Movement.