On this Day in History...February 1, 1960

[hoops5]

On this day in history in 1960, four Black college students sat at the lunch counter in a Woolworth's store in Greensboro, North Carolina but were denied service. They sat at the counter until it closed. The next day, they were joined by 16 more students for a sit-in at Woolworth's. On the third day there were a total of 60 people, 300 took part in the peaceful protest on the 4th day, and by the 6th day there were 1000 participants. Sit-ins spread to other cities in North Carolina, then to other states in the South. Sales dropped at affected stores. On July 25, 1960, the Greensboro Woolworth's was desegregated, after losing $200,000 in sales.

 

(Students had to construct a line graph showing the number of sit-in participants over the first 6 days.)

[hoops5]

I read this scenario to my students and showed them how to graph the information. All the while feeling incredibly ashamed---and I expressed this to my students.