Imagine growing up in a city and never knowing of a historic event that people you knew from church participated in during their youth. You work for a major TV network and yet...you never knew.
Or....
Imagine living in a city and working in its downtown for three years in the 1970's and never knowing of a historic event that happened in a building you passed twice a day on the way to and from work.
It's hard to imagine. Or is it?
The history of African-Americans in our United States is a story of so much hidden, so much buried. So much needs to be uncovered.
Sheinelle Jones grew up in Wichita, Kansas and has deep roots in the black community of Wichita. But she did not know about the Dockum sit in in downtown Wichita, Kansas in July of 1958, until recently. Ms. Jones just happens to be the host of the 3rd hour of the Today show, a morning show on our NBC network. Today, she did two segments on this historic sit in.
And that person who lived in Wichita in the 1970's when her spouse was stationed at the local Air Force base and passed by the building (now a hotel with a Starbucks) twice a day? That was me. I had no idea, either. No historic marker. No write up in the Wichita Eagle-Beacon (now, the Wichita Eagle) newspaper that I can remember.
I was absolutely amazed to watch this Today show segment. You may be, too.
Many people associate segregation with the American South. Not so. In 1950's Wichita, segregation was alive and thriving. Black children could not swim with whites in the municipal pools. Nor could they go into Dockum's Drug Store (a Kansas chain), sit at the lunch counter, and have a refreshing soda. Why? Because of the color of their skin.
Students decided to change that, to peacefully protest by sitting at the counter all day, day after day, until the owner gave in and served them. It took three weeks.
Other sit-ins are more famous. Nor was the Wichita Dockum Drug Store sit-in of 1958 the first sit-in action taken by black students. But it was the first successful student led sit-in. After those three weeks the Dockum Drug Store chain (and Rex-All drugs) integrated its lunch counters.
How this segment of the Today show came to be was even more amazing. The granddaughter of the Dockum owners, who was a baby when the sit-in occurred, was moved by the nationwide protests this past summer, and moved to act by her Christian faith. She decided to apologize and meet some of the protesters, but the pandemic prevented her doing that in person. Instead, she did a zoom call, organized by a local TV station, and apologized to seven of the protesters. They talked for a bit.
The granddaughter of the Dockum store owner in Wichita calls the sit in protesters "heroes".
I like to tell my readers that history is not a dry collection of dates to memorize. It is living, breathing.
It is our story, history, for good or for bad. To learn from and improve going forward, or not.
Thank you for sharing this. I lived in Wichita for 8 years when my kids were teens, and I heard someone (a local?) mention the sit in once, briefly. However, I did not get any of the details, and I had no idea that this sit in took place before the Woolworth's one in Greensboro, NC. And I had no idea that it happened in a chain store and led to a change in policy for the chain. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteI was so astounded that I had to blog about it. Thank you for your comment, Karen.
Delete...lots of things happen right under our noses!
ReplyDeleteI had read of this 'sit-in'. I apllaud the courage and fortitude of these amazing students! They began what was to become true (and very much needed) change. Change that is still happening to this day. I pray that I have their courage if the opportunity comes to stand up. (Or sit in!)
ReplyDeleteMy friend told me that blacks were not allowed to attend her catholic church in Detroit in the 1960s. I had no idea that was going on as I lived in an all-white suburb.
ReplyDeleteAs I recall, Kansas was admitted to the Union in 1861 as a free state, but the violence between abolitionists and pro slavery forces was legendary, so I’m not surprised Kansas was segregated.
ReplyDeleteMy own experience in 1974 when I was only 14. There was a single rest stop on I 95 in Maryland. The building looked like an antebellum plantation from the old south. Upstairs on the second floor there was a food court. Next to the food court with clean modern restrooms. All of the patrons in the upstairs restrooms were white. Downstairs near the entrance to the building where additional restrooms . They were in poor repair and all of the patrons were Blacked . This was in Maryland, which was never a southern state. I was shocked.
Thankfully that monstrosity was replaced decades ago.
Of course Kansas was segregated. The famous Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education was the Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas.
ReplyDeleteI never heard of this and thanks for bringing it to our attention. There a lot we need to know and understand about our past, knowledge it and take correct steps forward.
ReplyDeleteI can recall if one local Indians went in store. Some employees of store would announce some thing like. "Indian on aisle 4" it pretty much saying "clean up on aisle 4" This happen per 1975 or so.
Coffee is on and stay safe