HIGH POINT, N.C. — Most people are aware of the Woolworth sit-in in downtown Greensboro that sparked a nationwide movement, but there is another civil rights first that happened less than 15 minutes away.

What You Need To Know

  • Twenty-six former Pen Griffith students conducted their own sit-in in 1960 at the High Point Woolworth store

  • Penn Griffin School for the Arts hosted its annual Feb. 11 program

  • Near the end of the program, they conducted a rose ceremony on stage remembering and recognizing the 26 who helped make a change during the Civil Rights Movement

It’s the annual celebration of Feb. 11 for the Penn Griffin School for the Arts, a program put on by the dance teacher, Amelia Byrd, for the last eight years.

“I am passionate about this because I am pro-Black history. I feel like it should be taught any and everywhere,” Byrd said.

Students are paying homage to 26 former courageous Pen Griffith students, who conducted their own sit-in in 1960 at the High Point Woolworth store. They were the first high school students in the country to stage a sit-in. It was their way to help change things during that time.

The high schoolers' sit-in was inspired by the four North Carolina A&T students who held a sit-in at the downtown Greensboro Woolworth store two weeks prior, which helped start the sit-in movement across the country. 

Now, Byrd is working to keep this history alive.

“Because it is. We all know this being banned and books are being banned everywhere. So the only way to keep it alive is through performances and talking about it,” Byrd said.

Nearing the end of the program, they conduct a rose ceremony on stage remembering and recognizing the 26 who helped make a change during the Civil Rights Movement. In the audience were family members of the 26 and a surviving member, Mary Lou Andrews Blankeney.

“I am so happy to have been a part. And I told my sons from the time they were younger, that is one of the best things I've ever done, I think,” Blankeney said.

She remembers what that time was like was 64 years ago.

“It was a little bit scary. I cannot deny that, you know, and we had each other's backs. I loved that part. We just kept trying and kept praying and kept singing,” Blankeney said.

She say’s even though that time was scary, their strength came from God.

“And I remember praying before we started the marching that no Black or white parents would try to assault us. I said, 'Lord, please let them not try to hurt us. Because they have to know inside that what they're doing is wrong and what they need for their children is what we are trying to help get,'” Blankeney said.

The school has dedicated the first floor in their honor, with a painted rendition of the High Point Woolworth’s lunch counter. It also includes pictures from that day.

“I'm proud. I'm very proud that we did. He allowed us to be a part of that and to see. And we still, a lot of us live long enough to see the change. And we still got some work to do. But I mean, it just to know that there were people backing us that didn't even look like us, and that wasn't always the case. So, you know, we pray like an awful lot,” Blankeney said.