Sit-in Demonstration Site

Sit-in Demonstration Site. Walgreens. , Walgreens drugstore was located at this site prior to its move in early 2000. On November 27, 1958, a delegation of representatives accompanying Mrs. Iris King, Mayor of Kingston, Jamaica, stopped here briefly to have a cup of coffee following a tour of the downtown business district. The store management refused to serve her and black members of the delegation., As news of the incident spread, angry black leaders and citizens proposed a boycott of all downtown stores. Meanwhile, Central High School students, led by educator Lyman T. Johnson, protested in front of the store. It was the first public demonstration against a store policy serving blacks., One week later, Frank Stanley, editor of the Louisville Defender, reported he was served at Walgreens without incident. Stanley complemented the store’s management for changing its policy in a December 11, 1958, editorial. But he used the occasion to urge passage of a city ordinance to rectify the segregation policy, thus launching the long political and direct action campaign to achieve that goal., Walgreens became one of the first stores on Fourth Street to serve blacks before the passage of the Public Accommodations Ordinance., “…the one thing we did right was the day we started to fight, keep your eye on the prize hold on…”, Dedicated to the memory of Dr. J. Blaine Hudson (September 8, 1949 - January 5, 2013)