Greensboro's African American Community Newspaper since 1967
Recent reports claiming the removal of key African American historical artifacts from the Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C. have sparked public concern — particularly over the status of the iconic Greensboro lunch counter and stools connected to the 1960 lunch counter sit-in movement.
The rumors follow an executive order issued by President Donald Trump, which called for the removal of what he termed “improper ideology” from federally supported cultural institutions. As the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex, the Smithsonian includes 21 museums and libraries, 14 education centers, and the National Zoo.
Among the artifacts reportedly in question are stools from Greensboro’s F.W. Woolworth’s lunch counter, the site of the historic 1960 civil rights sit-ins led by four North Carolina A&T State University students: Ezell A. Blair Jr. (Jibreel Khazan), Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond.
Known as the “A&T Four,” these students staged a nonviolent protest at the segregated lunch counter inside the Woolworth store in downtown Greensboro on February 1, 1960. Their actions helped ignite a national sit-in movement, leading to widespread desegregation of public facilities and restaurants across the country.
Today, four stools from the original lunch counter are prominently displayed in the National Museum of American History’s Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: The Era of Segregation 1876–1968 exhibition, where they continue to serve as powerful symbols of student-led civil rights activism.
According to the executive director of Greensboro’s International Civil Rights Center and Museum, John Swaine, those four stools on display were sat in on the second day of the lunch counter sit-ins by Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, William Smith and Clarence Henderson –in that order.
“On the first day of the sit-ins, the A&T Four actually sat at the ‘L’ of the lunch counter, in sets of two with the cash register in the middle,” Swaine noted.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture continues to have one stool on display, which features a recreated lunch counter and an interactive exhibit.
In response to public concern, the Smithsonian Institution issued a formal statement to clarify the status of the Greensboro artifacts:
“Both the Greensboro lunch counter and stools where college students sat in protest during the Civil Rights Movement are and continue to be on display. A stool from the sit-ins remains on view at the National Museum of African American History and Culture as the centerpiece of an interactive exhibition. The larger section of the Greensboro counter also remains on display at the National Museum of American History. Suggestions that the Smithsonian had planned or intended to remove these items are false.”
The statement continued:
“Further, the Smithsonian routinely returns loaned artifacts per applicable loan agreements and rotates objects on display in accordance with the Smithsonian’s high standards of care and preservation and as part of our regular museum turnover. Recent claims that objects have been removed for reasons other than adherence to standard loan agreements or museum practices are false.
As the steward of our nation’s treasures and history, the Smithsonian preserves and protects all objects and artifacts in its collection to ensure their long-term conservation and to safeguard them for future generations.”
For those looking to connect with the origins of this pivotal moment in civil rights history, the original lunch counter remains on view at the former Woolworth’s building in downtown Greensboro, which is now home to the International Civil Rights Center and Museum.
