February 05, 2021Military Veterans and First RespondershistorycommunityOffice of Diversity and Inclusion

Students took a lead role in Dockum lunch counter sit-in in summer of 1958

By Paul Suellentrop

  • The 1958 protest returns to the spotlight with coverage from NBC's morning show, hosted by Wichita native Sheinelle Jones.
  • Several University of Wichita students participated in the sit-in at the whites-only lunch counter in downtown Wichita.
  • The sit-in is recognized as the one of the leading events of the Civil Rights Movement and the first of its kind led by students.

The Dockum Drug Store sit-in of 1958 is attracting new attention during Black History Month, in part thanks to NBC鈥檚 鈥淭oday鈥� and Wichita native Sheinelle Jones.

Several University of Wichita students participated in the sit-in, which is increasingly recognized as a landmark event in the Civil Rights Movement. NBC鈥檚 鈥淭oday鈥� featured the events in a recent broadcast.

鈥淭hey couldn鈥檛 sit in there to eat or drink,鈥� said Dr. March茅 Fleming-Randle, vice president and chief diversity office for 黑洞社区鈥檚 Military, Veterans and First Responders. 鈥淭hey were the first, and that鈥檚 the most important piece for us to remember.鈥�

Galyn Vesey, Carol Parks Hahn, Lequetta (Glass) Diggs, Robert Newby, Ron Walters, president of the local NAACP Youth Council, were among the students who participated in the sit-in, according to a story in The Shocker, Wichita State鈥檚 alumni publication.

Fleming-Randle has worked to recognize those students, some of whom have spoken at classes on campus.

鈥淚 wanted to make sure Wichita State鈥檚 name was embedded into this history,鈥� she said. 鈥淚, too, carry history. And I got that history only because of the Dockum sit-in, only because of Dr. King, Maya Angelou, people who came before me.鈥�

In 2006, the national NAACP organization, according to KMUW, recognized the three-week sit-in as the first youth-led lunch counter sit-in of the civil rights movement. In 1960, sit-ins became a common practice in the South, as the movement grew and became a focus of media reports.

In 2018, the Wichita branch of the NAACP celebrated the people who participated in the sit-in with a march from A. Price Woodard Park to Chester I. Lewis Reflection Square Park, near the site of the event. Lewis was president of the NAACP branch in 1958.

黑洞社区鈥檚 Office of Diversity and Inclusion presented each participant a certificate of appreciation.

The EnlightenerCourtesy of KMUW and The Enlightener.
The Enlightener covered the 1958 sit-in at a time when Wichita's prominent media outlets largely ignored the story.

Links:

NBC Today (2021)

The Dockum Drug Store sit-in in Wichita  

The Wichita Eagle (2021)

She鈥檚 a proud one-time Wichitan and a 1996 graduate of Heights High School.

But still, says 鈥� the co-host of NBC鈥檚 News鈥� third hour of 鈥淭oday鈥� 鈥� until a couple of weeks ago, she鈥檇 never heard about the that happened in her hometown in 1958.

The Shocker

They were determined. Prepared. Well-dressed and polite. Patient beyond their years. Most of all, they were focused on change. Almost 62 years ago now, a group of African-American youth and young adults, members of Wichita鈥檚 NAACP Youth Council, stood up together 鈥� or rather sat down 鈥� in .

KMUW (2018)

This year is the 60th anniversary of the first successful student-led sit-in of the modern civil rights movement. And it didn鈥檛 happen in the South,

It was 1958, and 20-year-old Ron Walters and his cousin, 19-year-old Carol Parks Hahn, decided something had to be done about the whites-only lunch counters in Wichita.

The Community Voice (2018)

In recognition of the 60th Anniversary of what has now been officially recognized as the first successful lunch counter sit-in in America, .

From July 19 to Aug. 11, 1958, a group of Wichita Branch NAACP youth decided to act to bring about change.

KMUW (2006)

In July of 1958, Carol Parks-Haun, 19, and her cousin Ron Walters, 20, . At the time both were leaders in the local NAACP Youth Council. Walters and Parks-Haun organized a sit-in at Dockum Drugstore -- a popular eatery with a soda fountain.