[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 19, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E38]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 COMMEMORATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA, 
 SIT-IN AND CELEBRATING THE OPENING OF THE INTERNATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS 
                           CENTER AND MUSEUM

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MELVIN L. WATT

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 19, 2010

  Mr. WATT. Madam Speaker, on February 1, 1960 four freshman students 
from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Ezell 
Blair (Jibreel Khazan), Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil and David 
Richmond, sat down and requested service at the F.W. Woolworth's 
segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. In the 
following days more students from North Carolina Agricultural and 
Technical State University, Bennett College for Women, Woman's College 
of the University of North Carolina (now the University of North 
Carolina at Greensboro) and Dudley High School would join the sit-in. 
The nonviolent action of these students sparked a nationwide sit-in 
movement.
  I ask my colleagues in the House to join me today in commemorating 
and celebrating these acts of heroism and the opening of the 
International Civil Rights Center and Museum on February 1, 2010. The 
Museum is located at the site of the February 1, 1960 sit-in and will 
be a lasting memorial to these historic acts.
  The courage of the students at North Carolina Agricultural and 
Technical State University, Bennett College for Women, Woman's College 
of the University of North Carolina (now the University of North 
Carolina at Greensboro) and Dudley High School serves to remind us of 
the important role that young people played, and continue to play, in 
the civil rights struggle and in the fight for equality and justice for 
all people. The International Civil Rights Center and Museum will be a 
monument to the sacrifices of freedom-loving people who came together 
to work for the promise of this nation.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in commemorating the 
50th anniversary of the Greensboro sit-in and to thank those who 
labored to keep America's dream of democracy alive and real. I also 
encourage all citizens to join me in supporting the International Civil 
Rights Center and Museum.

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