South Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)
The 1960 Memphis Sit-In Movement
Photographed by Steve Masler, April 3, 2020
1. The 1960 Memphis Sit-In Movement Marker
Inscription.
The 1960 Memphis Sit-In Movement. . The Sit-In Movement against racial segregation reached Memphis Friday, March 18, 1960 when seven Owen Junior College students sat-in at the lunch counter in McClellans Variety Store downtown. The next day, 36 students from LeMoyne College and Owen Junior College left a rally to participate in a sit-in at Cossitt and Peabody public libraries. Law enforcement officials arrested the students, along with five negro journalists. The public facilities-focused sit-ins inspired others to sit-in at city museums and parks, department stores and churches. Urged by Marion Barry, a LeMoyne graduate and national chair of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the resolute efforts of these students were important contributions to the desegregation of Memphis.
The Sit-In Movement against racial segregation reached Memphis Friday, March 18, 1960 when seven Owen Junior College students sat-in at the lunch counter in McClellans Variety Store downtown. The next day, 36 students from LeMoyne College and Owen Junior College left a rally to participate in a sit-in at Cossitt and Peabody public libraries. Law enforcement officials arrested the students, along with five negro journalists. The public facilities-focused sit-ins inspired others to sit-in at city museums and parks, department stores and churches. Urged by Marion Barry, a LeMoyne graduate and national chair of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the resolute efforts of these students were important contributions to the desegregation of Memphis.
Erected by Tennessee Historical Commission. (Marker Number 4E 179.)
90° 2.117′ W. Marker is in Memphis, Tennessee, in Shelby County. It is in South Memphis. It is on Walker Ave east of Dr. Hollis F. Price Street, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 799 Crown Pl, Memphis TN 38126, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in West Tennessee. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Deep South, in the Upper South, in the Mississippi Delta, and in the Great River Road Region. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Credits. This page was last revised on August 13, 2025. It was originally submitted on April 3, 2020, by Steve Masler of Memphis, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 2,124 times since then and 108 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on April 3, 2020, by Steve Masler of Memphis, Tennessee. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
