St. Patrick’s in Savannah in the ’60s

On March 16th, 1960, two Beach High students and one Savannah State student–Carolyn Quinn, Joan Tyson, and Ernest Robinson–got arrested for trying to eat at a whites-only lunch counter at Levy’s Department Store on Broughton Street.

More sit-ins were scheduled, but police closed the stores before the students arrived. You could shop there and order your food to go, but you couldn’t eat or work there.

Black folk had enough and called a boycott. 🙅🏾 shopping on Broughton Street, period, until they started letting us shop, work, and eat there (and stopped calling us boy or girl instead of sir or ma’am). You could, however, continue the sit-ins.

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The NAACP arranged for older property-owning blacks to bail out the younger foot soldiers when they were arrested. As Florrie Scriven, who did a number of marches and sit-ins, said: We stuck together.

Two days later, Savannah Morning News reported: “These lunch counter demonstrations are both unwise and unfortunate….We do not think any member of the community, white or black, wishes to inspire violence, yet these sit downs pose this threat.”

June 1960: Chicago Defender reported that the boycott had cost merchants more than $1,000,000.

July 1960: 250 robed klansmen paraded Broughton Street and threw bricks into NAACP members houses with notes that said “Keep away from our goddamn stores black niggers. White folks can live without you goddamn black niggers money.” (that’s not a typo but how it was actually spelled.) Savannah Tribune responded: “The colored community refuses to be intimidated by men who parade under the disguise of hoods on Broughton Street.”

18 months later: Mayor Mingledorff resigned and Savannah Morning News reported that 🖐🏽 stores chose bankruptcy over integration.

October 1961: White business owners opened their lunch counters to black customers. This happened 8 months before the Civil Rights Act was passed which forced white businesses integrate.

W.W. Law held a mass meeting that following Sunday at St. Phillips AME to call off the 70-week boycott. Curtis V. Cooper, leader of the boycott committee, seconded the motion and no one in attendance dissented.

We won ✊🏾

Like this story? You’ll love the book.

P.S.: This post ain’t meant to discourage you from enjoying St. Patrick’s Day. Enjoy yo’self. Seriously.

P.S.S.: Savannah is one of the most popular St. Patrick’s Day destinations in the U.S., ‘longside NYC, Boston, Chicago, and New Orleans. (NOLA ass be parading for like a week straight.)