Charleston sit-ins

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Charleston sit-ins were a series of peaceful protests during the civil rights movement in Charleston, South Carolina. On April 1, 1960, 16 boys and 8 girls from Burke High School sat at a 52-seat lunch counter at the S.H. Kress store on King Street and refused to leave. They sang, prayed, and recited parts of the Bible as the afternoon went on. At about 4:45 p.m., an anonymous caller warned of a bomb, and police evacuated about 100 customers, but no bomb was found. The students were arrested for trespassing, and each received a $10 bond paid by NAACP organizer J. Arthur Brown. The local newspaper published a strong editorial criticizing the protest.

Sit-ins continued. On July 25, 1960, 11 Black students were refused service at the W.T. Grant lunch counter on King Street. On July 26, about 20 students arrived at the Woolworth lunch counter, but the counter stools were removed and only replaced when a White patron sat down. Some days had no sit-ins, but students often picketed or demonstrated.

The protests continued into 1961, with several arrests. In February 1961, nine students were arrested and fined or jailed. On February 11, 1961, 14 students from Burke, Immaculate Conception, and Bonds-Wilson High Schools were charged with trespassing for refusing to leave the Kress counter on King Street. The NAACP paid bonds for nine of the students, and four younger protesters were released to their parents.