A Brief History of the Sit-In Movement

Greensboro Sit-Ins
Danny Lyon / Magnum

The SNCC
Galvanized by their success, many of the young people who participated in the sit-ins coalesced to form a locally based, student-run civil rights organization that they named the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Focused on nonviolent direct-action tactics, the SNCC would play a key role in the 1961 Freedom Rides, the voter-registration drive in McComb, Miss., and the Albany Movement, a desegregation campaign organized in Albany, Ga.

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