Credit: Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
On Feb. 1, 1960, four African American college freshmen sat down at the Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C., and politely asked to be served. When they remained in the seats after their request was refused, they ignited a youth-led movement to challenge injustice and racial inequality throughout the South. A four-stool portion of the Woolworth’s lunch counter is at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.