July 20, 2024

2024 Gala Wrap-Up!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: John L. Swaine
336-274-9199
[email protected]

INTERNATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS CENTER & MUSEUM ANNOUNCES
SIX HONOREES FOR THE 2024 ANNUAL GALA 

(Honorees:  Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., The Honorable William “Bill” V. Bell, Heather Booth, The Honorable Dorothy Kendall "Dot" Kearns, County Commissioner, Frankie T. Jones, Jr., and Yvonne Lyons Cooper-Revell)

     GREENSBORO, N.C. (July 20, 2024) — The International Civil Rights Center & Museum marked the 64th Anniversary of the successful conclusion of the Greensboro civil rights sit-ins on July 20, 2024, at its annual fundraising Gala at the Koury Convention Center. At this, the Civil Rights Museum’s most important annual commemorative event, six significant contributors to civil and human rights were honored during the fund-raiser. 

     This year also marked the 70th Anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, when American civil rights lawyer, Thurgood Marshall successfully argued that state-sanctioned segregation of public schools violates the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. Racial segregation in public schools was ruled inherently unequal no matter what might have been the conditions of the schools or quality of the programs. In recognition of this transformative decision, the ICRCM has titled the upcoming Gala, “The Road to Equality.” 

Thanks to all who attended to help us have a successful event. Plans are already underway to host a February 1, 2025 commemorative event to honor the 65th anniversary of the beginning of the F.W. Woolworths Sit-Ins for the next year.    

About the Sit-In Movement

     The Sit-In Movement began at the F.W. Woolworth's store on Feb. 1, 1960, when four N.C. A&T students — David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan), and Joseph McNeil — requested and were refused service at the whites-only lunch counter. That lunch counter and its seats have been preserved in their original location as the iconic core of the Civil Rights Museum. 

     Almost immediately in 1960, the direct-action sit-in tactic spread across the nation, and it has been a method of peaceful protest against injustice ever since. As the saying now goes, “They took a seat to make a stand.” 

     The International Civil Rights Center & Museum attracts visitors from across the globe to explore the struggle for racial justice and human equality. The acclaimed tours and restored Woolworth’s landmark were recently recognized as one of the top 10 major sites on the U.S. Civil Rights Trail. 

     For more information, visit www.sitinmovement.org.