MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1
The four A & T freshmen – Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair, Jr. and David Richmond, all on academic scholarships, entered the F.W. Woolworth store and purchased merchandise at several counters. Then, they sat down at the "whites only" lunch counter and asked to be served. They asked to be served coffee, were refused service, then ignored, and were asked to leave. They remained seated until the store was closed early at 5 pm. The four immediately returned to campus and recruited others to their cause.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2
The original four returned to Woolworth along with Billy Smith, Clarence Henderson and others. They sat from 11 am to 3 pm while white patrons heckled them. Undaunted, they sat with books and study materials to keep them busy. They were not served.

Reporters and a TV cameraman arrived, and Greensboro police officers monitored the scene. Once the sit-ins hit the news, momentum picked up and students across the community embraced the movement. That night, students met with college officials and concerned citizens. They organized a Student Executive Committee for Justice to formally plan the continuing demonstration. This committee sent a letter to the President of F.W. Woolworth in New York asking that his company "take a firm stand to eliminate discrimination." Meanwhile, at their regular monthly meeting, the NAACP voted on the controversial effort. One hundred percent of the attendees voted to back the students.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3
More than sixty students, one-third of them female, returned to the store and sat in every available counter seat for the entire day. Students from Bennett College and Dudley High School swelled the number of protesters. Most car pooled to and from the store and sat in shifts.

Members of the Ku Klux Klan, including state chaplain George Dorsett, were present. Numerous white patrons taunted students as they studied. A statement issued from Woolworth's national headquarters read that company policy was "to abide by local custom."

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4
Students from A&T, Bennett and Dudley filled every open seat at the Woolworth counter. Three white supporters-- Genie Seaman, Marilyn Lott and Ann Dearsley from Greensboro's Woman's College (now UNCG)-- joined the protest. As tensions grew, police kept the crowd of 300 in check. Waiting students then marched to the basement lunch counter at S.H. Kress & Co., the second store targeted by the Student Executive Committee, and the sit-ins spread. That evening, student leaders, college administrators and representatives from Woolworth and Kress stores held talks. The stores refused to integrate as long as other downtown facilities remained segregated. Students insisted that their targets would continue to be Woolworth and Kress. The meeting ended without resolution.