Franklin McCain, 1941–2014
The man who led the Greensboro Four
When he was a college freshman, Franklin McCain decided it was time to act against segregation. On Feb. 1, 1960, he and three fellow students of his all-black college sat down at the whites-only lunch counter of the F.W. Woolworth in Greensboro, N.C. “We had no notion that we’d even be served,” he later said. “What we wanted to do was serve notice, more than anything else, that we were going to be about trying to achieve some of the rights and privileges we were due as citizens of this country.”
The so-called Greensboro Four got no coffee that day, said The Washington Post. But they kept coming back, and within a week hundreds of supporters had joined them. “The best feeling of my life,” McCain later said, “was sitting on that dumb stool.” By the time the Woolworth in Greensboro served its first black customer six months later, the Greensboro Four had sparked “a movement of sit-ins across the country.”
Born in Union County, N.C., McCain lived in Greensboro before moving to Washington, D.C., said the Greensboro News & Record. He returned to attend the Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina, graduating with degrees in chemistry and biology. McCain worked for 35 years for a chemical company in Charlotte, and was chairman of his alma mater’s board of trustees.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
McCain later said that the Greensboro Four’s action had arisen from a simple question, said The New York Times: “At what point does a moral man act against injustice?” Their sit-in, along with the many that came before and after it, built the momentum that led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its ban on segregation.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
7 restaurants that beat winter at its own chilly game
The Week Recommends Classic, new and certain to feed you well
By Scott Hocker, The Week US Published
-
Sudoku medium: December 24, 2024
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Sudoku hard: December 24, 2024
The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Dame Maggie Smith: an intensely private national treasure
In the Spotlight Her mother told her she didn't have the looks to be an actor, but Smith went on to win awards and capture hearts
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
James Earl Jones: classically trained actor who gave a voice to Darth Vader
In the Spotlight One of the most respected actors of his generation, Jones overcame a childhood stutter to become a 'towering' presence on stage and screen
By The Week UK Published
-
Michael Mosley obituary: television doctor whose work changed thousands of lives
In the Spotlight TV doctor was known for his popularisation of the 5:2 diet and his cheerful willingness to use himself as a guinea pig
By The Week UK Published
-
Morgan Spurlock: the filmmaker who shone a spotlight on McDonald's
In the Spotlight Spurlock rose to fame for his controversial documentary Super Size Me
By The Week UK Published
-
Benjamin Zephaniah: trailblazing writer who 'took poetry everywhere'
In the Spotlight Remembering the 'radical' wordsmith's 'wit and sense of mischief'
By The Week UK Published
-
Shane MacGowan: the unruly former punk with a literary soul
In the Spotlight The Pogues frontman died aged 65
By The Week UK Published
-
'Euphoria' star Angus Cloud dies at 25
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Legendary jazz and pop singer Tony Bennett dies at 96
Speed Read
By Devika Rao Published