Atlanta Sit-In Sparks National Attention
On October 19, 1960, 52 people, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., were arrested during a peaceful sit-in at Atlanta’s segregated lunch counters. The protesters refused to leave Rich’s Department Store and other establishments enforcing Jim Crow laws, which barred Black customers from dining alongside white patrons or even trying on clothing.
This wave of protests was part of the larger student-led sit-in movement spreading across the South. It had begun earlier that year when four North Carolina A&T students staged a sit-in at a Woolworth’s in Greensboro. By 1961, the movement had attracted more than 70,000 participants and over 3,000 arrests, marking one of the most significant nonviolent challenges to segregation.
Dr. King Joins Students in Defiance of Jim Crow
King’s arrest came after he accepted an invitation from Atlanta’s college students to join their sit-down demonstrations. The protest was organized by the Atlanta Student Movement under the leadership of Lonnie C. King and Julian Bond, with support from Spelman College activists like Marilyn Pryce and Ida Rose McCree.
Georgia’s governor accused the students of spreading “dissatisfaction, discontent, discord, and evil,” even suggesting communist influence. Despite such attacks, the protesters remained steadfast, emphasizing that segregation violated the core principles of democracy.
The Kennedy Campaign’s Intervention
While most of the 52 arrestees were released quickly, King’s situation grew dire. He was held on charges that his sit-in arrest violated a probation term from an earlier traffic offense and was sentenced to hard labor…