Representatives from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) were among the nearly 2,000 people at a Feb. 13, 2010, benefit gala celebrating the Feb. 1, 2010, grand opening of the International Civil Rights Center & Museum in Greensboro, N.C.
The $23 million museum was founded in 1993 under the auspices of Sit-in Movement, Inc., and took 15 years to come to fruition. Its grand opening occurred on the 50th anniversary of the day when four black male students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College sat at an all-white lunch counter in downtown Greensboro to protest segregation.
The actions of the “Greensboro Four” at the F.W. Woolworth five-and-dime store sparked
sit-ins and were a catalyst for the nation’s civil rights revolution. Within two months, sit-ins were occurring in 54 cities in nine states, according to an Associated Press report.
The Woolworth lunch counter became desegregated on July 26, 1960, and the former store—which had been slated for the wrecking ball—houses the museum at 132 S. Elm St. and East February One Place. The store’s name remains on the outside of the building in large gold letters and the lunch counter and iconic orange and green vinyl stools where the students sat remain in their original spot as a permanent exhibit.
Other exhibits in the 43,000-square-foot museum include a “Colored” only entrance to a train depot in Greensboro and displays illustrating segregation at places such as movie theaters and restaurants; newspaper advertisements specifying the desired race of job applicants; photos of atrocities such as lynching of blacks and hosing persons involved in civil rights actions; a chair that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. sat in while being arraigned on charges stemming from a civil rights protest; and one of the pens President Lyndon Johnson used to sign the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
The gala dinner at the Joseph S. Koury Convention Center included the Rev. Jesse Jackson, political dissidents from Rwanda working for democratic elections there, and “Greensboro Four” members Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil and Ezell Blair Jr. (who took the name Jibreel Khazan in 1968). The fourth student, David Richmond, died of lung cancer in 1990.
SHRM was the gala’s only platinum sponsor—the highest sponsorship level—and purchased one of the gala’s premier tables. In addition, SHRM created color advertisements with messages such as “Today, let’s all stand up … and salute those who sat down” and “Fifty years ago today, four friends sat down … and took a stand for equality.”
The full-page ads appeared in the gala’s program, in special editions of the Greensboro News & Record and on the back cover of a commemorative magazine distributed at the museum’s dedication ceremony. In addition, they appeared on the newspaper’s web site.
Attending the gala representing SHRM:
SHRM’s recognition of this civil rights milestone was a natural fit for the global HR organization, Asbury said, noting that “SHRM and HR stand for equality and equality rights,” concepts that “we advocate for and want to see in all workplaces.
“It fits with our mission, it fits with what we’re about as an organization,” he said, adding that it’s important that SHRM recognize events “that have an impact on the nation and society [as a whole].”
Without the nonviolent action of the Greensboro Four, he said, “we might not have the [equal employment opportunity] laws and protections we have today.”