Politicskamala harriscivil rights movementracial segregation

Kamala Harris Visits Historic Woolworth's Lunch Counter Where Sit-In Movement Began

In Greensboro, North Carolina, the vice president takes a seat Rosa Parks once occupied after the counter became part of a civil rights museum.
Ryan Grenoble
By 

National Reporter, HuffPost

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In a surprise stop during a visit to Greensboro, North Carolina, on Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris dropped in on the International Civil Rights Center and Museum.

The museum houses what remains of the Woolworth’s five-and-dime where, on Feb. 1, 1960, four Black college students sat at a lunch counter and politely asked for service ― a revolutionary act at the time.

They were rebuffed, but they returned to the whites-only lunch counter day after day in increasing numbers, popularizing the sit-in movement that spread quickly across the South.

Harris reportedly sat in the seat once occupied by Rosa Parks when she visited the museum in the 1990s.

Harris is shown the once-segregated lunch counter from the original Woolworth's building as she visits Greensboro, North Carolina, on Monday.
Harris is shown the once-segregated lunch counter from the original Woolworth's building as she visits Greensboro, North Carolina, on Monday.
SAUL LOEB via Getty Images
Harris sits at the lunch counter where four Black college students began a sit-in protest in 1960.
Harris sits at the lunch counter where four Black college students began a sit-in protest in 1960.
SAUL LOEB via Getty Images
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