In the s, University of South Florida history professors agreed they should find additional ways to serve the Tampa Bay community and state of Florida. They did so through the still-standing tradition of collecting and preserving original records and recording oral stories related to local and state history.
USF has continued to have a central role in ensuring future generations know that civil rights story, doing so through a historic marker, books and now a play and documentary. On Feb. So, on that day, they protested by peacefully sitting at the lunch counter.
But we were focused on what we had to do so I then kept my eyes straight ahead. The next day, a larger student group protested Woolworth plus the nearby W. Grant and Kress stores. They had escorts too β Tampa police sent by Mayor Julian Lane who agreed it was time to desegregate the lunch counters and wanted it accomplished in a peaceful manner.
They agreed, and a few months later, Black residents were served. No one was harmed. The significance of that peaceful transition was not lost on that group of USF history professors in the s. That led to her spearheading the successful effort to place a historic marker on the corner near the now-vacant Woolworth building on the corner of Polk and Franklin streerts in downtown Tampa.
The chapter on the sit-ins relies heavily on those USF archives. Tammie Fields and the historic marker honoring the sit-ins. Jim Davis, was among those who attended a show.
