Franklin Eugene McCain's Page

Childhood: I was born in Union County, North Carolina, in 1942 and raised in Washington D.C.

Family: After graduating from college, I stayed in Greensboro for graduate school and married Bettye Davis. We have three sons.

Education & Work:  I graduated from Eastern High School in 1959 when I was 17 and attended North Carolina A&T State University. In 1964, after the sit-in at F.W. Woolworth in 1960, I graduated from A&T with a degree in chemistry and biology. I also began to work for the Celanese Corporation in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1965 where I worked for almost 35 years.

Extra Facts:

• I received an honorary doctorate from North Carolina A&T State University in 1994 for my "contribution to the civil rights movement."
• I also served on the boards of both Bennett College and North Carolina Central University.
• After the sit-in I remained involved in numerous civic activities and community organizations, including the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, in which I served as chair of the North Carolina regional committee.

I was apart of the "Greensboro Four"

While I was at A&T State, I roomed with David Richmond, and I was around the corner from Ezell Blair Jr. and Joseph McNeil.  In a short period of time we all became close.  We would hang out and meet in our dorm rooms.  It was these hang out sessions in which we considered challenging the institution of segregation. After Christmas break, I remember McNeil being denied at a Greyhound bus station... that was the breaking point.

We all decided to take action at that point knowing that we were risking our lives. We (the "Greensboro Four") entered the F.W. Woolworth store in Greensboro, N.C., around 4:30 p.m. and purchased merchandise at several counters. Then we sat down at the store's "whites only" lunch counter attempted to ordered coffee, but were denied service, ignored and then asked to leave.  We remained seated at the counter until the store closed early at 5 p.m.  We immediately returned to campus and recruited others for the cause.  

By the second day there were a good amount of people and it escalated from there.  All of the people would bring books and study materials to keep busy all day.  Everyone who participated had food thrown at them, we made fun of and hit by whites, but we still managed to make our mark.   

The sit-ins continued into other stores. I significantly remember that there were three white women who were supporters and began to participate in these sit-ins. Over 300 students were involved.  

By July F.W. Woolworth's was desegregated.

By the end of March, the sit-in Movement had spread to 55 cities in 13 states.

Quotes: 

"Fifteen seconds after ... I had the most wonderful feeling. I had a feeling of liberation, restored manhood. I had a natural high. And I truly felt almost invincible. Mind you, [I was] just sitting on a dumb stool and not having asked for service yet."

"It's a feeling that I don't think that I'll ever be able to have again. It's the kind of thing that people pray for ... and wish for all their lives and never experience it. And I felt as though I wouldn't have been cheated out of life had that been the end of my life at that second or that moment."

http://sitinmovement.org/history/greensboro-chronology.asp

http://library.uncg.edu/dp/crg/personbio.aspx?c=77

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/februaryone/four.html

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18615556