1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,040 Speaker 1: Hey, everyone, Technically you're getting two days in history today 2 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:05,920 Speaker 1: because we're running two episodes from the History Vault. I 3 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:10,920 Speaker 1: hope you enjoy. Hi. I'm Eves, and welcome to this 4 00:00:11,039 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: Day in History Class, a show that on covers history 5 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:28,160 Speaker 1: one day at a time. The day was February one, 6 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:32,880 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty. It was the height of the civil rights 7 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,960 Speaker 1: movement in America and black students across the South we're 8 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:41,800 Speaker 1: organizing to fight for equal rights. Segregation between African American 9 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:46,440 Speaker 1: and white people was the norm, and for years activists 10 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:49,600 Speaker 1: have been fighting the status quo with methods of non 11 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 1: violent protest. So on the afternoon of February one, four 12 00:00:54,640 --> 00:01:00,120 Speaker 1: students named Ezelle Blair Jr. David Richmond, Franklin McCain, and 13 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:04,080 Speaker 1: Joseph McNeil purchased items, then set down at a whites 14 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:08,080 Speaker 1: only lunch counter at a Woolworth store in Greensboro, North Carolina. 15 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:12,919 Speaker 1: They refused to move. Their action that day was simple, 16 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:16,960 Speaker 1: but it took careful planning, and it spurred more sit 17 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:21,560 Speaker 1: ins across the country. The four men, all students at 18 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:26,279 Speaker 1: North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, would become known 19 00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 1: as the Greensboro for the four students would meet in 20 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:34,440 Speaker 1: their dorm rooms and so called bull sessions, where they 21 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:37,280 Speaker 1: discussed the treatment of black people in the US and 22 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:41,560 Speaker 1: what they could do about it. But after Blair, now 23 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: named Gabriel Kazan, was denied service when he tried to 24 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:48,160 Speaker 1: get food at a Greyhound bus station, the group was 25 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:52,840 Speaker 1: moved to action. They knew they needed to do more 26 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:56,200 Speaker 1: and talk less to be able to incite real change, 27 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:00,840 Speaker 1: so they decided to protest racial segregation by conducting a 28 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 1: sit in at Woolworth, which was a large enough entity 29 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:07,880 Speaker 1: that any major disruption would get national attention from black 30 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:12,040 Speaker 1: and non black people. And if they got enough media attention, 31 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:17,079 Speaker 1: they thought, then they could get Woolworth to desegregate. It's 32 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: been said that white store owner Ralph John's encouraged and 33 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: counseled the Greensborough for into the Woolworth sit ins, but 34 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:30,120 Speaker 1: McCain and Kazan have denied the sit in was John's idea. Anyway, 35 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 1: the concept of a sit in was not new. Activists 36 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:36,640 Speaker 1: had engaged in this kind of protest for over a 37 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:41,560 Speaker 1: decade by this point. In nineteen forty three, Polly Murray, 38 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: a Howard University law student who would go on to 39 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:49,840 Speaker 1: become a lawyer and priest. Organized stool sittings in segregated cafeterias. 40 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:54,400 Speaker 1: Women in the Citizens Civil Rights Committee in St. Louis, 41 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:57,680 Speaker 1: Missouri held lunch counter sit ins in the nineteen forties, 42 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:01,880 Speaker 1: and in the nineteen fifty ease the Congress on Racial 43 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: Equality stage students in Baltimore to protest discrimination. But even 44 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: though sti ins had already been happening all over the country, 45 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 1: the Greensboro Woolworth sid in sparked a massive movement. On 46 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: February one, the Greensboro for tried to order coffee at 47 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:22,520 Speaker 1: the world Worth lunch counter, but they were refused service, 48 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:26,919 Speaker 1: as was the store policy. The staff asked the students 49 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: to leave, but the students did not budge. When police 50 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:33,919 Speaker 1: got to the Woolworth, they said they couldn't take any 51 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:38,280 Speaker 1: action because the students hadn't provoked anybody, and even then 52 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:42,840 Speaker 1: local media was already all over the story. So the 53 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 1: four stayed at the lunch counter until the store closed early, 54 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,360 Speaker 1: and then went back to campus to find more people 55 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 1: to join their cause. The next day, nearly thirty students 56 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:57,040 Speaker 1: showed up at the world Worth counter to protest segregation, 57 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: and the day After that more than six students showed up. 58 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 1: The Student Executive Committee for Justice sent a letter to 59 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:08,960 Speaker 1: the president of F. W. Woolworth asking the company to 60 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 1: quote take a firm stand to eliminate discrimination. In the 61 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:19,120 Speaker 1: following days, the protests grew. Students from Bennett College in 62 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:22,800 Speaker 1: Dudley High School also joined the demonstrations, as well as 63 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: white students from nearby colleges. Members of the Clue Klux 64 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:31,240 Speaker 1: Klan and white patrons heckled the students, but by February four, 65 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:34,400 Speaker 1: the sit in had spread to another lunch counter at 66 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:38,919 Speaker 1: s H. Crest and Co. And on February five, the 67 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:42,320 Speaker 1: protests had grown to over three hundred strong and was 68 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:46,640 Speaker 1: getting a ton of media coverage. Some students protesting at 69 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 1: the Woolworth and Crests stores did get arrested, but the 70 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:55,360 Speaker 1: boycotts were hurting the store sales, and soon people all 71 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:58,960 Speaker 1: over the country were organizing sit ins and other forms 72 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:03,880 Speaker 1: of non violent protests against racial segregation. The Student Non 73 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:08,320 Speaker 1: Violent Coordinating Committee formed in April nineteen sixty at the 74 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:13,160 Speaker 1: encouragement of civil rights organizer Ella Baker, and in July 75 00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:19,040 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty the Woolworth and christ counters were integrated f 76 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:24,159 Speaker 1: W Woolworth employees Charles Buss, Maddie Loan, Susie Morrison, and 77 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 1: Jamie Robinson. We're the first African Americans to eat at 78 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:33,760 Speaker 1: the Woolworth lunch counter. I'm Eavestacote and hopefully you know 79 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 1: a little bit more about history today than you did yesterday. Hey, y'all, 80 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 1: if you listen yesterday, you know that I had a cold. 81 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 1: I am still recovering from that cold, which means my 82 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:48,880 Speaker 1: voice is still hoarse. So thank you for bearing with 83 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:52,799 Speaker 1: me again. You can subscribe to This Day in History 84 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:56,120 Speaker 1: Class on Apple Podcasts, the iHeart Radio app, or wherever 85 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:59,360 Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. Come back tomorrow for another tidbit 86 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:07,960 Speaker 1: from history. Hey everyone, I'm Eves and welcome back to 87 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:11,359 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class, a podcast where we unwrap 88 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:21,560 Speaker 1: a piece of history candy every day. The day was 89 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:27,119 Speaker 1: February one, nineteen o two. Writer and activist Blankston Hughes 90 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 1: was born in Joplin, Missouri. Hughes was an important figure 91 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:34,720 Speaker 1: in the Harlem Renaissance, and he is considered a pioneer 92 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:38,640 Speaker 1: of modern Black literature. Though it's long been believed that 93 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: he was born in nineteen o two, recent archival discoveries 94 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:45,080 Speaker 1: do suggest that he may have been born a year earlier. 95 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:49,520 Speaker 1: Hughes lineage was full of prominent and politically active people. 96 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:54,400 Speaker 1: His maternal grandmother's first husband, Louis Leary, died in John 97 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:59,479 Speaker 1: Brown's raid at Harper's Ferry. His grandfather, Charles Henry Langston, 98 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:03,200 Speaker 1: was an abolitionist and one of the first black people 99 00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:08,120 Speaker 1: to attend Oberlin College. His great uncle, John Mercer Langston, 100 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:12,360 Speaker 1: was the first black congressman from Virginia, the first president 101 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:15,320 Speaker 1: of Virginia State University, and the first dean of the 102 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 1: law school at Harvard University, and his grandmother frequently told 103 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:23,800 Speaker 1: him stories about their family's history. His parents were James 104 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:27,640 Speaker 1: Hughes and Carrie Langston. When he was was young, his 105 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:30,720 Speaker 1: father left the family and moved to Mexico, and his 106 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:34,400 Speaker 1: parents divorced. His mother moved to different cities for work. 107 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:38,680 Speaker 1: As a result, Hugh's grandmother raised him in Lawrence, Kansas, 108 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:41,680 Speaker 1: though he lived with and visited his mother in some 109 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:46,600 Speaker 1: cities like Kansas City in Colorado Springs. Eventually he settled 110 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:51,160 Speaker 1: with his mother and stepfather in Lincoln, Illinois, then Cleveland, Ohio. 111 00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:55,880 Speaker 1: By this time, Hughes had already begun writing poetry. He 112 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:58,800 Speaker 1: went to high school in Cleveland, and there he began 113 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 1: delving into leftist literature and ideology. He took interest in 114 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 1: the Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois, 115 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:10,240 Speaker 1: and studied the work of Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Carl Sandberg, 116 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:14,840 Speaker 1: Friedrich Nietzsche, and other writers, and he started publishing his poems. 117 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:18,920 Speaker 1: Hughes wrote one of his most famous poems, The Negro 118 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:21,400 Speaker 1: Speaks of Rivers, when he was a teenager on a 119 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:25,239 Speaker 1: train to Mexico. Once he graduated high school, he spent 120 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:28,000 Speaker 1: a year in Mexico with his father, but he had 121 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:31,680 Speaker 1: a strained relationship with his father, who considered black people 122 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:35,319 Speaker 1: inferior even though he was black, and he urged Hughes 123 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,560 Speaker 1: to pursue a career that was more practical than writing, 124 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:43,080 Speaker 1: but Hughes immersed himself more in his writing. He moved 125 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:46,920 Speaker 1: to New York City, attended Columbia University, took odd jobs, 126 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:50,720 Speaker 1: then dropped out of college. He traveled to Africa and 127 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: Europe as a crewman, and he lived in Paris for 128 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:56,400 Speaker 1: a while, where he continued to write poems in fiction 129 00:08:56,800 --> 00:09:00,680 Speaker 1: and learned more about blues and jazz artists. When he 130 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:03,120 Speaker 1: returned to the US, he moved to Washington, d c. 131 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:06,600 Speaker 1: And took trips to Harlem, where he met literary figures 132 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:11,920 Speaker 1: like County Cullen and Gene Tumor. In nineteen six Alfred 133 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:16,160 Speaker 1: anf published his first book of poetry, The Wary Blues. 134 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 1: In addition to poetry, Hughes wrote novels, short stories, and 135 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:24,280 Speaker 1: plays in which he portrayed Black American life in the 136 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:29,520 Speaker 1: nineteen twenties through nineteen sixties. His works include The Simple Tales, 137 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:32,920 Speaker 1: which began as a regular column in The Chicago Defender, 138 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:36,160 Speaker 1: a book of short stories called The Ways of White Folks, 139 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:39,040 Speaker 1: and a play called Mulatto that ran on Broadway for 140 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:43,080 Speaker 1: more than a year. Hughes did reading tours, and he 141 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:46,440 Speaker 1: traveled throughout the Soviet Union and Asia, writing a lot 142 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:51,400 Speaker 1: of leftist poetry. He wrote prolifically and many people around 143 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:54,680 Speaker 1: the world supported his work, but many others disliked his 144 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 1: portrayals of everyday, working class black people, believing it was 145 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:01,559 Speaker 1: a disservice to the race to display the less desirable 146 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:05,679 Speaker 1: aspects of black life, and other critics thought that Hughes 147 00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:10,080 Speaker 1: didn't take a strong enough political stance in his work. Regardless, 148 00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:13,080 Speaker 1: Hughes became successful enough to live off of his writing 149 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:17,079 Speaker 1: and public lectures. Hughes wrote up until his death in 150 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:20,960 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty seven. His ashes are beneath of floor medallion 151 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:23,600 Speaker 1: at the Shaun Berg Center for Research in Black Culture 152 00:10:23,679 --> 00:10:27,400 Speaker 1: in Harlem. I'm Eve Jeff Cote and hopefully you know 153 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:30,120 Speaker 1: a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 154 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:33,320 Speaker 1: If you haven't gotten your fill of history yet, you 155 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:37,520 Speaker 1: can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t 156 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:42,360 Speaker 1: d I h C podcast. You can also email us 157 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:47,080 Speaker 1: at this Day at I heart media dot com. Thank 158 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:49,680 Speaker 1: you again for listening, and we'll see you tomorrow.