A salute to Tampa's Woolworth lunch counter sit-in on its 65th anniversary
By Lily Belcher
February 28, 2025 at 5:21 AM EST
The surviving participants of Tampa's sit-in were recognized for their efforts in the Civil Rights Movement.
Leroy Long was with his mother, Lillie Mae, who was tired from a long day of walking, when they tried to sit at the Woolworth lunch counter in the 1950s.
They were told they weren’t allowed to sit there – the downtown Tampa counter was reserved for white diners only.
“I’ll never forget that,” he said. “That’s stamped in me forever. I was pretty upset by it.”
So, in early 1960, when the ninth-grader was told by his Blake High School history teacher about a protest sit-in, there was no question – he was going.
On Thursday, Long’s efforts, and those of other students and civil rights leaders of the time, were honored by Mayor Jane Castor and other city and county leaders.
ALSO READ: A play depicting Tampa’s historic Woolworth lunch counter sit-in runs at the Straz Center in March
“I’m glad it’s being remembered,” he said.
Similar civil rights demonstrations were going on across the South during that time. The sit-in movement began in Greensboro, North Carolina, by four students from all-Black North Carolina A&T College who refused to leave a segregated Woolworth lunch counter on Feb 1, 1960.
The one at Tampa’s Woolworth store started on Feb. 29, 1960. It was led, in part, by Clarence Fort, who was the NAACP Youth Council president at the time.
The group had refused to leave until they were served. Compared to similar demonstrations across the country, the one in Tampa remained nonviolent.
Over the week, the protesters were joined by Tampa police officers, who were sent by Mayor Julian Lane, who wanted to keep things peaceful.
By September, 18 Tampa department stores had desegregated their lunch counters.
Fort, now 86, said he was scared, but seeing the example set by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. encouraged him.
“If I get shot, I just get shot, but I was ready to take that chance,” he said. “If Dr. King could do it back (in) that day, then why not me?”
Fort said he was willing to risk his life because that’s how change is made.
He added that students from Middleton and Blake, then Tampa's high schools for Black students before desegregation, were invited because they didn’t have jobs that they were at risk of losing if they spent the day at the lunch counter.
That meant 40 students could stand up – or in this case sit down – for their rights.
Fort was able to lead the sit-in because he was a self-employed barber at the time and wasn’t at risk of losing his job if he missed a day at work.
Clarence Fort (left) and his wife, Yvonne, attended the event commemorating the sit-in, which is depicted in the frame. (5712x4284, AR: 1.3333333333333333)
Fort said he was just happy to be alive to celebrate Thursday’s commemoration.
“It just means a lot to let me know I had something to do with it,” he said.
And Thursday was the first time Leroy Long had been to the former Woolworth building since participating in the sit-in.
While protesting, he said he was never scared. He had lived in the city all his life and knew the police officers were there to defend the protesters.
“What was there to be scared of?” he asked.
Another student, John Billups, was 19 when he was told he wasn’t allowed to sit at the lunch counter because he was Black.
“All I wanted was a hotdog,” the Blake graduate said.
Billups said it took a lot of courage to participate in the protest. He said Thursday's event means a lot to him.
He’s also grateful the story is being told through the play "When the Righteous Triumph," which runs at the Straz Center in Tampa on March 6-9 and 15-16.
Barbara Wright was one of the participants at the Woolworth sit-in in February 1960. (1594x1143, AR: 1.394575678040245)
And Middleton graduate Barbara Wright said she took part in the protest to show that she also had the right to be there.
“We felt that it was fair, and we were persistent,” Wright said.
She said her parents and grandparents paid taxes and she was buying lunch, so it was only fair to let her sit there.
“This was something that we wanted to do because we knew it was right and you have to fight for what you think is right,” she said.
They were told they weren’t allowed to sit there – the downtown Tampa counter was reserved for white diners only.
“I’ll never forget that,” he said. “That’s stamped in me forever. I was pretty upset by it.”
So, in early 1960, when the ninth-grader was told by his Blake High School history teacher about a protest sit-in, there was no question – he was going.
On Thursday, Long’s efforts, and those of other students and civil rights leaders of the time, were honored by Mayor Jane Castor and other city and county leaders.
ALSO READ: A play depicting Tampa’s historic Woolworth lunch counter sit-in runs at the Straz Center in March
“I’m glad it’s being remembered,” he said.
Similar civil rights demonstrations were going on across the South during that time. The sit-in movement began in Greensboro, North Carolina, by four students from all-Black North Carolina A&T College who refused to leave a segregated Woolworth lunch counter on Feb 1, 1960.
The one at Tampa’s Woolworth store started on Feb. 29, 1960. It was led, in part, by Clarence Fort, who was the NAACP Youth Council president at the time.
The group had refused to leave until they were served. Compared to similar demonstrations across the country, the one in Tampa remained nonviolent.
Over the week, the protesters were joined by Tampa police officers, who were sent by Mayor Julian Lane, who wanted to keep things peaceful.
By September, 18 Tampa department stores had desegregated their lunch counters.
Fort, now 86, said he was scared, but seeing the example set by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. encouraged him.
“If I get shot, I just get shot, but I was ready to take that chance,” he said. “If Dr. King could do it back (in) that day, then why not me?”
Fort said he was willing to risk his life because that’s how change is made.
He added that students from Middleton and Blake, then Tampa's high schools for Black students before desegregation, were invited because they didn’t have jobs that they were at risk of losing if they spent the day at the lunch counter.
That meant 40 students could stand up – or in this case sit down – for their rights.
Fort was able to lead the sit-in because he was a self-employed barber at the time and wasn’t at risk of losing his job if he missed a day at work.
Clarence Fort (left) and his wife, Yvonne, attended the event commemorating the sit-in, which is depicted in the frame. (5712x4284, AR: 1.3333333333333333)
Fort said he was just happy to be alive to celebrate Thursday’s commemoration.
“It just means a lot to let me know I had something to do with it,” he said.
And Thursday was the first time Leroy Long had been to the former Woolworth building since participating in the sit-in.
While protesting, he said he was never scared. He had lived in the city all his life and knew the police officers were there to defend the protesters.
“What was there to be scared of?” he asked.
Another student, John Billups, was 19 when he was told he wasn’t allowed to sit at the lunch counter because he was Black.
“All I wanted was a hotdog,” the Blake graduate said.
Billups said it took a lot of courage to participate in the protest. He said Thursday's event means a lot to him.
He’s also grateful the story is being told through the play "When the Righteous Triumph," which runs at the Straz Center in Tampa on March 6-9 and 15-16.
Barbara Wright was one of the participants at the Woolworth sit-in in February 1960. (1594x1143, AR: 1.394575678040245)
And Middleton graduate Barbara Wright said she took part in the protest to show that she also had the right to be there.
“We felt that it was fair, and we were persistent,” Wright said.
She said her parents and grandparents paid taxes and she was buying lunch, so it was only fair to let her sit there.
“This was something that we wanted to do because we knew it was right and you have to fight for what you think is right,” she said.