Morgan State students stage first sit-in

January 20, 1955

Categories: African American, Civil Rights, Legal
Tags: 1941 – 1989, Baltimore City

Taking a lead role in the civil rights movement, seven Morgan State College students, working with CORE (Congress on Racial Equality), stage a first sit-in at the Reads Drugstore in downtown Baltimore. The sit-in is peaceful and Reads officially declares desegregation just two days later. One of the participants is Robert Bell who later becomes Chief Judge on the Supreme Court of Maryland.

The Maryland sit-in occurs five years before the more famous Greensboro, North Carolina sit-in and sets the stage for other sit-ins around the country.

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Morgan State University

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