Site of 1963 Woolworth’s Sit-In gets Freedom Trail Marker

Joan Mullholland (center) attends the unveiling of the latest Mississippi Freedom Trail Marker commemorating the 1963 Woolworth's Sit In. (Facebook photo)

From The Mississippi Link Newswire

JACKSON – On Tuesday, May 28, the newest marker on the Mississippi Freedom Trail was unveiled on East Capitol Street in downtown Jackson. The marker was erected at the site of the 1963 Woolworth’s store, where a historic sit-in by civil rights activists occurred.

Joan Mullholland (center) attends the unveiling of the latest Mississippi Freedom Trail Marker commemorating the 1963 Woolworth's Sit In. (Facebook photo)

Led by Tougaloo College students and faculty, the Woolworth’s sit-in on May 28, 1963, became one of the iconic moments of the Civil Rights movement.

A white mob threatened and attacked the activists and doused them with condiments over the course of several hours. Jackson Daily News photographer Fred Blackwell took images that, to this day, are synonymous with the movement and white resistance to it.

Tougaloo College partnered with the Mississippi Freedom 50th Foundation, Jackson State University, the Margaret Walker Center and Jackson Convention and Visitors Bureau to bring the participants and supporters of the Woolworth’s sit-in, other activists and their family members to Jackson for the unveiling of the Freedom Trail Marker in order to honor the veterans of that historic action in the civil rights struggle.

A luncheon and a public reception followed with a showing of the film, An Ordinary Hero: The True Story of Joan Trumpauer Mulholland, at the Jackson State Student Center Theater.

Joan Trumpauer Mulholland's booking photo

Mulholland is a Freedom Rider and is well known for her participation in civil rights. She became one of the first white students to integrate Tougaloo College and participated in the May 1963 sit-in at the Woolworth’s lunch counter.

On Wednesday, May 29, at 10 a.m. Tougaloo College will host, “A Conversation with Joan Trumpauer Mulholland – Coming Full Circle.”

Mulholland, along with friends from the movement, will provide reflections and discuss how lessons learned can be applied to address today’s civil and human rights issues.

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