Friendship 9

Friendship 9. Freedom Walkway. , On the morning of January 31, 1961, eighteen African American civil rights protesters, most of whom were students at Friendship College, gathered on Main Street in downtown Rock Hill. City police and SLED agents had been notified in advance in case of trouble and were on duty by 8:30 a.m. The protesters, made up of thirteen wand five woman, marched up and down the street carrying protest signs. While the women initially marched along the street, the men went inside McCrory's store. Ten sat down at the lunch counter and refused to leave:, John Alexander Gaines . Thomas Walter Gaither . Clarence Henry Graham . Willie T. "Dub" Massey . Robert Lewis McCollough . Wille Edward McLeod . Charles Edward Taylor . James Frank Wells . David Williamson, Jr. . Mack Cartier Workman, Nine of these men were Friendship College students. Thomas Gaither was not a student; however, he was a resident of Rock Hill and a field secretary for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Around 11:30 a.m., the protestors were arrested and taken to the city jail. The women left the scene shortly after the men were arrested. On February 1, the ten arrested demonstrators were tried for trespassing. The first to be tried, Charles Taylor, was found guilty and sentenced to a $100 fine or 30 days hard labor on the York County Prison Farm. The group's attorney, Ernest A. Finney, was an African American lawyer from Sumter, South Carolina. He asked the judge to allow Taylor's trial to serve as a basis for the other nine, and the judge agreed. They were thereby tried, convicted, and sentenced to the same punishment as Taylor. On February 2, the convicted protesters began serving their sentences on the county prison farm. Shortly thereafter, Charles Taylor opted to pay his bail and was released. The remaining nine protesters refused to pay bail and served 27 days of their 30 day sentence., After their convictions, the men were quickly given name the "Friendship 9" by the press, and the case became famous nationwide. Other protesters soon adopted the "jail, no bail" strategy initiated by the Friendship 9. Convicted demonstrators across the country began serving their jail sentences rather than paying bail , a monetary penalty which they considered to be subsidizing a system that supported segregation and inequality. Further demonstrations and arrests followed in Rock Hill and throughout the United States. These protests ultimately achieved their goal of making public places like restaurants, restrooms, bus terminals, and government buildings fully available to all people., On January 28, 2015, the 1961 trespassing convictions for these men were vacated from court records. This important moment in history was distinct from a pardon, which is forgiveness for a crime. The convictions were vacated to signify that they never should have been charged in the first place., [footer:] , A) Members of the Friendship in jail. B) Members of the Friendship 9, taken after their release from jail. In front, from left, are James Wells, Wille McCleod and Thomas Gaither. In back, from left, are Clarence Graham, Dub Massey and Mary and David Williamson, Jr. C) Historic marker on Main Street. D) There are no known images of the Friendship 9's sit-in, but this image shows one of the earlier 1960 protests at McCrory's lunch counter. E) Visitors to the prison camp where the Friendship 9 were serving their sentence during February 1961. F) Protesters sit at the Woolworth lunch counter on February 12, 1960. This was the first sit-in in Rock Hill. Photos courtesy of the Culture and Heritage Museums.