F. W. Woolworth Building
December 8, 2010 in 1960s-1970s, Economic history, Social history
Downtown Lexington has a long history of economic and social importance.
Woolworth was a department store in Lexington from 1946 to 1990. Woolworths were located all over the country and became the first 5&10 cent store.
In 1960, at a North Carolina Woolworth, four African-American students sat at the counter to eat lunch. They were refused service which snowballed into six months of boycotts and sit-ins at many Woolworth buildings, including the one in Lexington. This eventually caused economic strain on the company, but made an impact in the civil rights movement.
It is little instances like this that helped change our country from a severely discriminatory place to live to a country that made huge strides, thanks to brave people, such as the four African-American students, in the civil rights movement.
Unfortunately, the Lexington Woolworth building was demolished in 2004 and is now a parking lot.
Measha said on December 9, 2010
Small instances like this made huge impacts on the movement because whenever you take a stance against something you are able to achieve something.
dawn said on December 10, 2010
Why dont we use such boycotting practices on companies know who use child labor?
Cynthia Hayes said on April 17, 2011
I remember when the Woolworth store was standing on Main Street, but it was not in operation. The things that made residents really angry was when a decision was made to raze a whole city block to make way for a giant sky scraper that will never come. People were sad.