Greenville Library Protesters Celebrate 45th Anniversary

[struggle4progress]

4 Former Sterling High School Students Were Arrested For Sit-In

POSTED: 1:46 pm EDT July 17, 2005
UPDATED: 3:27 pm EDT July 17, 2005

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The battle over segregation might be over, but it is not forgotten.

At the Hughes Main Library in Greenville, all one needs is a card to access all the services the free library has to offer, but that wasn't the case 45 years ago.

On July 16, 1960, Benjamin Downs, Dorris Wright, Elaine Means and the Rev. Jesse Jackson were Sterling High School Students who intentionally broke the law by reading inside the "whites only" Greenville County Public Library.

"We spent a lifetime on that fateful day to say to the leaders of Greenville and the surrounding communities that we will not be denied the Encyclopedia Britannica. We will not be denied the Who's Who of America," Wright said. <snip>

http://www.thecarolinachannel.com/news/4733304/detail.html

[donco6]

1. Isn't Greenville where Bob Jones University is? eom

[struggle4progress]

3. Yep. eom

[LastDemocratInSC]

7. Yes, the Jonesers are here but it's still a great city

Yes, the Jonesers are here and no, many of us don't like it one bit. I'm sure they know of our discontent but to date they haven't seen fit to up and leave. I suppose we're stuck with them. The Jones school was invited here (yuk) in the late 1940s to spur development in the north-east side of town. They took the city fathers up on the offer (double-yuk) and the rest is history.

In the last 20 years the dominant conservative tide here has been stemmed somewhat by the arrival of many from other parts of the nation, and from other nations as well. Greenville made a long-term goal to establish itself as a headquarters site of the North American operations of foreign companies and to attract headquarters for many American companies as well. This has been a huge success for the city and surroungind area. After all, the solution to pollution is dilution.

Greenville has a vibrant and very alive progressive culture that makes itself evident in many ways. Don't let the news media color your views. It's much, much better than you've heard.

[napi21]

2. I will never forget my first visit to Downtown Greenville SC.

I had just been transferred to Greenville from Pittsburgh, Pa., it was June 1987. I was there alone, working, looking for a house, and commuting back and forth every two weeks. The first Sunday I was there, I decided to drive downtown and see what it was like.

I was the only car on the street downtown, so I parked at a meter, and decided to walk and do some window shopping. I came to a side street, and before stepping off the curb, I looked down the street to my right, just to be sure no traffic was comming. I actually ghasped, because, about 25 feet down that side street, on the side of the building was a water fountain that had a sign "Blacks Only"!!!

I was 43 years old then, and I had never seen anything like that!

That water fountain and the sign was still there when I moved again in 1992, and I bet if you take a walk down Main St in Greenville today, it's STILL there!

[donco6]

4. Wow. That's appalling.

Let's do the Time Warp again. :sarcasm:

[LastDemocratInSC]

6. I'll take you up on your bet

I've lived in Greenville all my life. I know there were segregated facilities of all kinds here in the past but the last of those - that I saw - was in the mid 1960s.

I worked in downtown Greenville from the mid 1980s through 2000 and during all those years walked probably every street - front, back and side - and never saw a remnant of a segregated drinking fountain. Now, you may have found a location during your brief time in our city that I somehow missed during my years downtown so I can't challenge you directly on your claim becaus you may be right.

I can, however, challenge you on your bet that remnants of segregated facilities can be found today. Greenville's downtown is a vibrant and diverse example of success - unmatched by most cities of its size and larger. Our downtown has won numerous redevelopment awards including the prestigious "Great American Main Street" award in 2003 from the National Trust. It doesn't get any better than that.

We were working here to fix our problems during the 1970s and 1980s while race riots were still erupting in more "progressive" areas of the nation. Why don't you come back and try it again? You'll be very pleasantly surprised at what has been accomplished here.

By the way, you didn't mention how much you want to bet. Shall we make it $1000? I know a good bet when I hear one and just can't stand to let one like yours go by.

http://awards.mainstreet.org/content.aspx?page=5140§ion=22

[MountainLaurel]

5. Another library sit-in

That happened 21 years before, in Alexandria, Virginia. (Not meaning to detract from Greenville, but I did a grad school project on the lawyer who led the sit-in, who later was one of the attorneys involved in the school desegregation lawsuits, and just think it to be fascinating history).



http://www.ripe.com/wnvc/prog_hl_hl.html

http://www.alexandria.lib.va.us/lhsc_online_exhibits/doc/archived/feb_2004/doc.html

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/swtucker.htm

http://www.acps.k12.va.us/tucker/swt.php

[LastDemocratInSC]

8. I saw one of the sit-ins at the old Greenville Library

I recall seeing well-dressed, well-mannered black men and women sitting in the periodical section gazing at upside-down magazines. I recall standing there looking at these young people with upside-down magazines in their hands.

The adults were seriously pissed off - all of them, including my parents: "Why, if they want visit the library they should at least read, for God's sake."

I think that those of us who were younger got the message - I know I did. What they are seeking is the right to just BE THERE. Even if they came in, sat down, and just looked around, what they wanted was the same freedom to just BE THERE with the rest of us. The upside-down magazines were their clever way of sending that message.

Yes, they were provocative but they had to be. Yes, they were perceived as being silly and intrusive to the powers that be, but those powers were NEVER going to see them any other way.

In time the message was understood and our community moved forward. It took a Federal Court order to desegregate the schools in the early 1970s but the white and black communities came together formally, and informally, to make the desegregation of our schools a success.

We're no better or worse than any other community - we just tend to get more attention for many reasons, but Greenville is a GREAT place to live. If it wasn't I would have moved long, long ago.