Fifty years ago, on Feb. 1, 1960, four students sat down for lunch, and stood up for their rights.  Join us for new theatre adaptation of the original National Museum of American History’s interactive program that will have thousands of visitors singing and cheering each day.  The Greensboro lunch counter has come to embody the spirit of quiet courage that turned the nation around and ensured equality for African Americans. Director Christopher Wilson brings this experience to life on the stage in Carmichael Auditorium at the National Museum of American History for a very special show celebrating Black History Month. Audiences will actually take part in a training session in non-violent protest, based on an original 1960’s manual used by freedom fighters and citizen activists of the Civil Rights movement.
 
A Closer Look – About the Program

We are with Civil Rights activists in 1960, just after the Greensboro student sit-in began.  Engaging young performers, portraying the courageous organizers, prepare us for our first sit-in with reenactment, song and instruction of the kind given to actual participants.  With evocative images, first person characterization, original dialogue, archival music and song, the play explores the meaning behind the museum’s lunch counter display and reveals the human emotions in the history. The original Greensboro lunch counter is on view on the second floor of the National Museum of American History.  We will learn the songs the Freedom Fighters sang as they changed their nation for the better. Sit Down, Stand Up: The Story of the Student Sit-Ins explores one portion of the civil rights movement and gives us the opportunity to ask ourselves if we would have the courage to “sit down to stand up” for our rights.

More About the Student Sit-In’s – from American History

http://americanhistory.si.edu/Brown/history/6-legacy/freedom-struggle-2.html

Sitting for Justice: Woolworth’s Lunch Counter

On February 1, 1960, four African American college students sat down at a lunch counter at Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina, and politely asked for service. Their request was refused. When asked to leave, they remained in their seats. Their passive resistance and peaceful sit-down demand helped ignite a youth-led movement to challenge racial inequality throughout the South.  Hundreds of students, civil rights organizations, churches, and members of the community joined in a six-month-long protest. Their commitment ultimately led to the desegregation of the F. W. Woolworth lunch counter on July 25, 1960.

More information from the Library of Congress:

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/odyssey/educate/lunch.html

About the Meet the Museum Program

These programs are specially designed by Discovery Theater and the education departments of the nation's top museums to engage young people during their visits to the Smithsonian and foster scholarship - and fun!  Each program introduces themes and topics in a 30-45 minute Discovery Theater performance in a theater or space within a museum. Then, head off to the galleries to see objects, artifacts, or artwork on that theme.  Programs vary by museum; please call 202-633-8700 for more information on specific programs.