Greenville Eight
Greenville Eight | |||
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Part of the Civil Rights Movement in South Carolina | |||
Date | March 1, 1960 - September 19, 1960 | ||
Location | |||
Caused by |
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Resulted in | Integration of city libraries | ||
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Lead figures | |||
Greenville NAACP vice president
Greenville Eight
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The Greenville Eight was a group of African American students, seven in high school and one in college,[1] that successfully protested the segregated library system in Greenville, South Carolina in 1960. Among the eight was Jesse Jackson, a college freshman. As a result of the staged sit-in, the library system in the city integrated.
Background
By 1960, public libraries in
On March 1, 1960, twenty black high school students entered the whites-only library branch and attempted to utilize the facility. To counter the protest, officials closed the library for the day. Two weeks later, seven students returned to protest the library's segregation policies, and they were arrested for disorderly conduct, though their actions were never brought to trial. On July 14, Jackson and five other students stood on the steps of the library. After police threatened the protesters with arrest if they entered the building, the protesters left. The
Protest
On July 16, 1960, eight African American students, seven in high school and one in college,[1] entered the whites-only branch of the public library. The eight students silently browsed the shelves and sat down to read. Several white patrons in the library left upon seeing the student protesters. A librarian immediately instructed the students to leave, but when they refused, he called the police. The sit-in lasted approximately 40 minutes before the police arrived and arrested all eight protesters.[4][5][6] Donald J. Sampson, the first African-American lawyer in Greenville, arrived after the students had been in jail for approximately fifteen minutes, and the court released the students on a $30 bond. They were each charged with "disorderly conduct".[3][7]
Result
On July 26, 1960, Sampson filed a federal lawsuit in the
The efforts made by a few Negroes to use the White library will now deprive White and Negro citizens of the benefit of a library ... This same group, if allowed to continue in their self-centered purpose, may conceivably bring about a closing of all schools, parks, swimming pools and other facilities. It is difficult to see how such results could be of benefit to anyone.[3][5]
Charles Cecil Wyche of the district court dismissed the case, stating that any ruling was irrelevant since the libraries were closed. But he contended that if the library system reopened in its segregated form, it would be "liable to further discrimination lawsuits". On September 19, the city reopened the libraries quietly after receiving many grievances from citizens throughout the city. The mayor, refusing to publicly admit that the libraries were integrated, added, "The city libraries will be operated for the benefit of any citizen having a legitimate need for the libraries and their facilities. They will not be used for demonstrations, purposeless assembly, or propaganda purposes."[3] Ultimately, the sit-in staged by the Greenville Eight resulted in the library system's integration, and the charges against the students were later dropped. Simultaneous sit-in protests happened throughout the city in the early 1960s, and school desegregation began by the late 1960s.
The Eight protesters
- Jesse Jackson
- Dorris Wright
- Hattie Smith Wright
- Elaine Means
- Willie Joe Wright
- Benjamin Downs
- Margaree Seawright Crosby
- Joan Mattison Daniel
See also
References
- ^ OCLC 1031468850. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
- ^ a b c d Wiegand, Shirley; Wiegand, Wayne (14 April 2018). The Desegregation of Public Libraries in the Jim Crow South. Louisiana: LSU Press. pp. 76–81.
- ^ a b c d Eberhart, George (1 June 2017). "The Greenville Eight". American Libraries. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
- ^ "The Greenville Eight". Chicago Tribune. 16 July 2010. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
- ^ a b Wineka, Mark (23 October 2018). "DeeDee Wright recalls the time when the 'Greenville Eight' were arrested, not celebrated". Salisbury Post. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
- ^ Inabinet, Brandon (n.d.). "Greenville County Library: An African-American History of Downtown Greenville". Retrieved 8 June 2020.
- ^ "Donald J. Sampson (1919-2001)". SCETV. n.d. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
External links
- "A portrait of history". The Greenville News. Greenville News-Piedmont Co. 27 Feb 2003. p. 27. Retrieved 30 October 2020. 1960 photo of the Greenville Eight with their attorneys