Eleanor E. and Ender H.
Here is another essay by a Main Colored High School student who participated in the March 28, 1963, civil rights sit-in downtown. The official owner of the essays shared only the first names and last initials.
Eleanor E. wrote: “When we walked in, one of the groups was already seated, surrounded by white spectators and police. I went around to the other side of the counter where a little girl was already sitting. When I started to sit beside her, her mother ran up to me and said, “I dare you to sit near my little girl. I just dare you,” and so in order to keep from getting into trouble,
I went around to the other side. If that woman had hit me, I could not have kept from hitting her back...
There was a group of rough Caucasian boys standing behind us, saying “they should go back to Africa where they came from.” Others said Martin Luther King had better come get his monkeys and carry them back to Africa. Nearly 15 minutes passed and the manager announced the lunch counter was closed for the day. No matter what he said, we just sat there talking quietly and reading our books. When the time came to wash the counters, they really washed them and us as well.
One of the white boys ordered a cup of coffee so he could accidentally spill it on us. The others laughed... We were surrounded by white spectators and the police. I was so wet I looked as if I had been swimming with my clothes.
At night we would sing for a while, and then we would sleep, and then we’d wake back up and sing some more. In the morning when we were served breakfast, one of the Negro police ladies brought us several personal items which we needed.
I can hardly wait until we have another sit-in. It might be this summer, next summer, next month, or next year, but whenever it is, I will be more than glad to stand up for my rights. This is the only way we will achieve anything for the Negro race...”
Ender H. wrote: “I was born June 11, 1947. I reside at 104 Classing St. I am a sophomore at Main High School. We were given our instructions at school in the morning by our student leaders. Some of the rules... were as follows: Don’t have anything sharp inside your purse or anywhere about you. Don’t talk loud while being inside the buildings or even call our friends by their names... Make sure that you are reading a book or magazine.
We left the school campus at about 3:15... By the time we reached Gibbon Street, we were stopped by some students who had come from Albany, Georgia, so we decided to go to the girls’ club and listen to what they had to say. Their group consisted of two boys and one girl. They said that they were here to help us and told us what we were getting into. After they had finished, we moved towards the downtown area.
The store was crowded with white spectators, about five policemen and two cameramen. We were not arrested that day but the day before, 62 of the demonstrators had been arrested, so I guess there was no use in arresting more. A group of white boys came and stood behind me. They made very nasty remarks. One said “I should pull my knife out and see how brave she really is, see how she can take a stick in the back,” but, eventually, he didn’t bother me. The policeman ordered all Negroes out of the store while the whites remained and made all kind of jokes about us. This I thought was a rude thing.
After we had stayed about 30 minutes, the manager ordered the counters to be closed. The waitresses began to wash off the counters but were washing us. This made us very angry, but we were at a disadvantage. We couldn’t do anything. After throwing a bucket of soap and water on us, she went to get another one and, while she was gone, one white boy said, “Make sure you put some ammonia in it and maybe it’ll wash some of that black off them,” and that’s what she did. She must’ve filled the bucket with at least two bottles of ammonia because it was so strong that it burned the tears out of my eyes, and when I opened my mouth, it went down my throat. I almost couldn’t stand that, but somehow, I survived. We pretended that it didn’t bother us.
The worst thing — while she was doing this, the policemen and the white spectators had the nerve to laugh. The waitress laughed while she was doing it. If I could have done what I wanted to, I would’ve choked her stiff and made her drink it, but unfortunately I couldn’t.
It was almost time for the store to close and the waitress yelled, “Coffee to go, 10 cents a cup,” and one of the Caucasian boys yelled, “Yes, 10 cents for the whites and 25 cents for the blacks.” Another one yelled, “Bring me a cup, so I can pour it on those blacks over there.”
With the Negroes of Rome, Georgia, I feel that it is about time that we are given some of the equal rights and pursuit of happiness that we are entitled to as human beings. One thing we must remember is that this is no plaything, and there’s no fun in it. It is something that we must do for the benefit of our people.”