On February 10, 2016, a few students, and I, commemorated a great event in Hampton, Virginia's history. On that same day in 1960, a group of men and women marched from Hampton Institute to a building in downtown Hampton formerly known as the Woolworth's lunch counter and sat at the 'Whites Only' counter. They faced nasty words thrown into their faces, shoving, and spitting in order to silently fight for their rights against segregation. This one encounter on February 10, 1960, sparked a movement all over the South where African Americans went into lunch counters, and silently protested against the segregation they were enduring. Movements like these are the reasons that today we are allowed to sit wherever we want in any establishment. This is why we can sit in classrooms with students of all different races, and we don't have to use separate water fountains and bathrooms. The sit-in movement that occurred is not only a historical moment for the city of Hampton, but also Hampton University itself. Those men and women who marched were students from Hampton University, formerly known as the Hampton Institute in those days.
A professor by the name of Dr. Zachary McKiernan decided to gather students, and walk to commemorate the march the brave students from the original sit-in movement took. We marched from Ogden Circle to the building in Downtown Hampton that once held the Woolworth’s counter that now holds a Psychiatrist’s Office. It was a very moving experience as we walked with friends and classmates sharing laughs, different subjects of conversation, and meeting new people. We marched peacefully and orderly just like the students back in 1960. The students had to stay uniform and calm so that no one could accuse them of being rude, rowdy, and disruptive. They had complete manners and kept to themselves. They only crossed the street when it was their turn, and they did not say or do anything disrespectful to any white person they encountered during the march, or at the lunch counter.
Dr. McKiernan wanted us to stick as closely to their agenda as we could. We each had a partner and walked in twos so that we would not take up the entire sidewalk. We crossed the streets only when it was our turn, and kept our volume low even though we were outside. The walk was not very long, and once we reached the old building we stood around the plaque outside the door and discussed the events that happened that day. We went to the side of the building, and wrote out different quotes that brought out our thoughts about the sit-in movement and all that it represented.
Seeing and discussing what those students had to endure really had an impact on how I view my current home here in Hampton, Virginia. Being there and learning a new part of history that I did not know about before really opened my eyes to how much history the city actually holds. To know those students were not much older than my peers and I and they were able to band together with such bravery to create such a powerful movement is amazing. There is so much history in the city that many natives do not know about.
This sit-in movement sparked many of the later movements that also occurred during the Civil Rights Movement. Many other African Americans wanted to support the students that sat at the lunch counters, and many stopped supporting white establishments. Movements such as the bus boycotts began where African Americans tried to carpool more, or just walk to their destinations.
The sit-in movement is a part of history that anyone who lives in Hampton should know about, and Hampton students should definitely know about this great event in history attending a historically black college/university that the original sit-in movement marchers attended.
