Mount Airy struggled with desegregation

On the first weekend of June 1963 several people went to lunch counters throughout Mount Airy’s downtown and ate.

Hardly a remarkable occurrence. Restaurants and luncheons in this area serve good food. Except, on that day the customers were black and Jim Crow laws and traditions were still firmly in place across the country.

More than friends grabbing a casual lunch, this was a plan to test how local white business owners and other citizens would react to integration of the lunch counters which were generally carry-out only for blacks at the time.

On June 4, 1963, the Mount Airy News reported, “…they were received courteously, served promptly, ate their food, paid their ticket and departed.”

The reporter continued, “No incidents marred their visits, with owners reporting that in some cases other patrons were unaware of their presence.”

The group of 35 black youths who tried to go to one of the downtown theaters, however, was turned away. But the day was largely a success.

“Apparently the sentiment of most merchants in the area is to serve all citizens impartially, without regard to race,” wrote the reporter. “Several voiced the opinion that they wanted to avoid the chance of Mount Airy becoming a ‘little High Point’.”

The now-famous Greensboro Four, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University freshmen who were arrested for taking seats at a Woolworth lunch counter on Feb. 1, 1960, inspired high school students across the region to follow suit in their own towns. When a group of black teens tried to be served at lunch counters or gain access to movie theaters in High Point, they attracted throngs of angry whites hurling verbal abuse.

Such demonstrations and unrest continued across the region from Greensboro to Goldsboro to Winston-Salem. Biracial committees were set up to hear complaints and seek solutions to racial segregation.

Surry County was largely quiet until the summer of 1963 and, even after this first foray into civil rights, there seems to have been little agitation locally.

Until August.

As a two-month-long searing drought withered crops and drove cows dry, members of Surry County’s African-American community made a decision to push the envelope.

Five Black women walked into Mount Airy Pharmacy on the corner of Franklin and Main streets about 6 p.m. on Saturday August 3, 1963, and sat down in the luncheon area. Owner Robert Wolfe explained what they already knew; “his store would offer them stand-up service at the counter only.”

They refused. They also refused to leave when he asked.

The ladies were arrested for trespassing and taken to jail — and a group of black men entered to take their place. The Mount Airy News reported nine people, ages 16 to 19, were arrested that evening. Roland Penn, father of one of the protestors, posted $100 bail for each.

But they weren’t done.

The next evening, again, about 6 p.m., “six Negroes entered Randleman Drug Company on West Lebanon Street and took seats at the lunch counter.”

They were offered carry-out service which they refused. They were asked to leave. As before, the group held tight to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s admonishment to be civil and non-violent in all such demonstrations.

They refused to leave.

The police were called and arrests made but, as a spokesman for the business was quoted as saying, “there were five more carloads outside waiting. It was just too much.”

Both businesses stated they would not change their service policies for “colored customers” and only offer stand-up or carry-out, insisting that “(the right to refuse service) is one of the few constitutional rights we have left.”

Judge Carroll Gardner, who presided over those arrested, delivered what was called at the time a “mercy verdict” which allowed the defendants to have no record so long as they were not convicted of another similar or violent crime in the next three years.

Segregation would not last but the work of healing racial disparities continues.

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Lunch counter sit-ins staged in Mount Airy in August of 1963 remained non-violent but resulted in dozens of arrests of both adults and juveniles. Five carloads of Black Surry County residents arrived at Randleman’s Drug Company that day and all were taken to jail. Some are shown in this picture from the Mount Airy News published August 6, 1963. Defendants, who the judge pointed out were all in high school or recently graduated and had bright futures, were given no convictions if they kept a clean record for three years.

https://www.mtairynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/web1_Randlemans-Sit-in-Caption-2-.jpgLunch counter sit-ins staged in Mount Airy in August of 1963 remained non-violent but resulted in dozens of arrests of both adults and juveniles. Five carloads of Black Surry County residents arrived at Randleman’s Drug Company that day and all were taken to jail. Some are shown in this picture from the Mount Airy News published August 6, 1963. Defendants, who the judge pointed out were all in high school or recently graduated and had bright futures, were given no convictions if they kept a clean record for three years.

Edward McDaniels was one of several youths arrested in 1963 during Mount Airy’s lunch counter sit-ins when he was 17. He and many members of the community have worked together to find solutions to racial issues over the years. He is seen in this Mount Airy News photo with retired teacher Katie Hatcher, and Shelby King at a 2018 Black History Month talk at the L.H. Jones Auditorium.

https://www.mtairynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/web1_Edward-McDaniels-Panel.jpgEdward McDaniels was one of several youths arrested in 1963 during Mount Airy’s lunch counter sit-ins when he was 17. He and many members of the community have worked together to find solutions to racial issues over the years. He is seen in this Mount Airy News photo with retired teacher Katie Hatcher, and Shelby King at a 2018 Black History Month talk at the L.H. Jones Auditorium.

The Mount Airy Drug Company, site of the August 1963 lunch counter sit-in, was the former Turnmyre’s Drug Store at the corner of Franklin and Main streets. Most pharmacies and “five and dimes” in the mid-1900s also had soda fountains and lunch counters. They were nearly all “whites only” as well. The 1954 US Supreme Court Case Brown vs. Board of Education held that segregated schools were unconstitutional. Black Communities across the country began challenging other aspects of segregated life, from lunch counters to buses.

https://www.mtairynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/web1_1950s-Turnmyres.jpgThe Mount Airy Drug Company, site of the August 1963 lunch counter sit-in, was the former Turnmyre’s Drug Store at the corner of Franklin and Main streets. Most pharmacies and “five and dimes” in the mid-1900s also had soda fountains and lunch counters. They were nearly all “whites only” as well. The 1954 US Supreme Court Case Brown vs. Board of Education held that segregated schools were unconstitutional. Black Communities across the country began challenging other aspects of segregated life, from lunch counters to buses.

As the students were fighting for integrated dining and entertainment opportunities in Mount Airy, the city and county schools were working to desegregate the schools. An article published on August 9, the same week of the sit-ins, announced all 38 applications for black students to be placed in schools that had been for white children only until then. Larry Bullock, seen here with his basketball team and his individual picture after being chosen “Most Athletic” for the senior class of 1966, seems to be the first black graduate of Mount Airy City Schools.

https://www.mtairynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/web1_larry-2-.jpgAs the students were fighting for integrated dining and entertainment opportunities in Mount Airy, the city and county schools were working to desegregate the schools. An article published on August 9, the same week of the sit-ins, announced all 38 applications for black students to be placed in schools that had been for white children only until then. Larry Bullock, seen here with his basketball team and his individual picture after being chosen “Most Athletic” for the senior class of 1966, seems to be the first black graduate of Mount Airy City Schools.

Source

Source: https://www.mtairynews.com