Protest against racial discrimination outside a Woolworth store, Ed van der Elsken, 1960
gelatin silver print, h 252mm × w 252mm
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© @Ed van der Elsken
On 1 February 1960, four black students walked into the lunchroom of a Woolworth store in Greensboro, North Carolina. According to the segregationist ‘Jim Crow’ laws in the southern states, they could be refused service. They sat there all day, waiting in vain for their coffee. This non-violent protest spread to other branches of the store, including in New York. In July 1960, Woolworth changed its policy.