McCrory's Civil Rights Sit-Ins

Front: This building, built in 1901, was occupied by McCrory’s Five & Dime from 1937 to 1997. On February 12, 1960, black students from Friendship Jr. College in Rock Hill were denied service at the McCrory’s lunch counter but refused to leave. Their “sit-in” was one of the first of many calling attention to segregated public places in downtown Rock Hill. These protests lasted for more than a year. Reverse: Many Rock Hill protesters were arrested, convicted, and fined. On January 31, 1961, ten students from Friendship Jr. College were arrested when they refused to leave McCrory’s. Nine would not pay their fines and became the first Civil Rights sit-in protesters in the nation to serve jail time. This new “Jail No Bail” strategy by “the Friendship Nine” was soon adopted as the model strategy for the Freedom Rides of 1961.