Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
From the International Civil Rights Center & Museum web site:
On February 1, 1960, four freshmen from North Carolina A&T launched the sit-in movement that was a major component of the civil rights movement of the early 1960s. To commemorate their actions, The International Civil Rights Center & Museum is being established on the very site of that original sit-in. We invite you to join us and learn more about the details of that event and to explore the plans to convert the 1929 F.W. Woolworths building into a living monument to civil rights everywhere.
The museum, unfortunately, is still under construction. It’s been in stages of planning and construction since 1994. Here’s part of a 2006 story from the Greensboro News & Record that explains:
Dozens of community leaders gathered at the International Civil Rights Center and Museum — the old Woolworth’s five-and-dime store on South Elm Street and February One Place — to announce a national fund-raising campaign.
The goal, about $12.5 million, includes the $10.5 million needed for construction, plus another $2 million to pay the museum’s mortgage.
One of the project’s chief fund-raisers, Richard “Skip” Moore, said the museum could open before it pays off the mortgage. Moore, president of the Weaver Foundation, said the museum could open about a year after it reaches the $10.5 million goal.
The museum will honor the contributions of the Greensboro Four: Ezell Blair Jr., known as Jibreel Khazan; Franklin McCain; Joseph McNeil; and the late David Richmond.
The N.C. A&T students refused to leave the downtown Woolworth’s lunch counter on Feb. 1, 1960, sparking a nationwide movement for integration.
The museum has been in the planning and fund-raising stages since 1994. Leaders already have spent $7 million on construction, plus about $2.8 million on salaries, administrative costs and office expenses.
Eventually, the museum will need an additional $2.5 million to finish the second-story, which will house the administrative offices.
Here’s a proposed floorplan.
Here’s the full News & Record story.
