“March 2, 1960 in Columbia, SC: In the morning sleet and rain, about two hundred students marched two by two to the core of the white shopping area. They walked in and out of stores, and at noon small groups converged on lunch counters at Kress and Woolworth.
....When forty to fifty black students entered Woolworth, the manager had already closed all but two of the seating sections at the lunch counter. As soon as the Columbia students sat, he closed the open sections too. The men and women read textbooks or Bibles for about ten minutes before departing. Protester Jack Simmons told a reporter, ‘If we can spend our money at the counters, we should be able to eat there, too.’”

“March 3, 1960 in Columbia, SC: Tapp’s served only its employees in its roped-off dining area. At Woolworth ropes barricaded the lunch space, so students left after a few minutes. At Kress employees had removed counter seats. On the street a group of white men formed a line of their own and marched toward the demonstrators, yelling and laughing, but didn’t attack. This time two students managed to obtain service at McCrory’s. A young man, described in news reports afterward as a ‘light-skinned Negro,’ entered ahead of the students, sat at the counter, told the waitress he was in a hurry, and ordered tea and a hamburger. When served he passed the food along to ‘a darker companion.’ The manager closed the counter, turned off the lights, and closed the store for an hour.”

“March 4, 1960, in Sumter, SC: Frances DuBose said yes to sit-ins when a classmate approached her during a word-of-mouth selection process. Recruits such as DuBose and volunteers met every night at the school canteen after it closed. There [CORE field secretary James T.] McCain and others trained them for nonviolent protests. ‘We were told we were expected to remain nonviolent, in the tradition of the Reverend Martin Luther King,’ she said. ‘We were told to expect the worst; we knew there would be abuse.’ Only [Morris College] juniors and seniors were finalists for this first effort, twenty-six students who believed they could endure violence without responding in kind. The night before the protest, they gathered to choose teams and destinations. They discussed ‘expecting the worst but not retaliating; otherwise, we would lose the true meaning, to bring awareness to the Sumter community,’ said DuBose, who was twenty years old.”

“March 4, 1960, in Sumter, SC: DuBose ventured into Sumter Cut Rate. ‘We sat down. A white man sitting at the counter said, ‘Uh-uh, uh-uh, no, we’re not going to serve you. Get up and leave.’ The waitress said, ‘We don’t serve colored people.’ She got on the phone and said, ‘There are some colored people down here who want to be served, and we’re not going to serve them,’’ said DuBose. ‘Within a matter of two to three minutes, the law officers came and arrested us.’”