Remembering the Nashville sit-ins

This Is Nashville · Jun 20, 2023 · 50m

On June 19, the nation celebrates Juneteenth to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved African Americans after the Civil War. While Juneteenth was only recently made into a federal holiday, there was a resurgence in Juneteenth celebrations during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 60s.

This special extended episode of This Is Nashville focuses on local civil rights efforts, namely the downtown sit-ins.

At 12:40 p.m. on February 13, 1960, Black college students sat down at lunch counters in downtown Nashville and asked to be served. They sat in silent protest against the segregation…