Marker Remembers Sit-In That Ended Segregated Lunch Counters In Tampa

TAMPA, FL — A historic marker now marks the location where 40 students from George S. Middleton and Howard W. Blake high schools, led by the NAACP Youth Council President Clarence Fort and the state NAACP President the Rev. A. Leon Lowry, banded together to peacefully protest segregation.

The sit-in movement of the 1960s began in February and gained momentum throughout the South. Black students engaged in peaceful protests by sitting at segregated lunch counters at five-and-dime stores. These non-violent demonstrations gained public attention and played a significant role in the civil rights movement.

On Feb. 29, 1960, a series of daily sit-ins started at F.W. Woolworth in downtown Tampa.

Tampa Mayor Julian Lane ordered the Tampa Police Department to escort the young protesters after the first day of the sit-ins. Days later, Lane appointed a bi-racial committee to quell racial tensions and encourage racial equality.

By September 1960 a total of 18 department stores in Tampa had desegregated lunch counters. Unlike many other Southern cities during the 1960s, Tampa achieved this through nonviolent means.

The Tampa F.W. Woolworth at 801 N Franklin St. closed in the early 1990s and is currently vacant. However, the historic marker stands as a testament to the power of peaceful protest and grassroots activism.

The marker, erected in 2018 by the Hillsborough County Historical Advisory Council, is at the intersection of East Polk Street and North Franklin Street.