Some heroes turn into legends but sadly most are forgotten. One of the nicest things about the web is that sometimes these heroes can be brought out into the light again and celebrated and I plan to take a look at these as well as some of history’s villains on a daily basis on days when there is no “Today In History” that catches my eye. Today we start with a story that caught my eye this weekend about the Wichita Sit Ins.

In 1958 segregation was the law of the land and that meant that blacks would not be served at most restaurants in Wichita, Kansas. A small group of young people decided that they had had enough and organized a sit in at the dining counter at Dockum’s Drug Store which allowed blacks to purchase food, but then insisted that they take the food out to be eaten. Seats at the lunch counter were reserved for whites, but twice a week for three weeks groups of black students came to the counter sat down and asked for service. The staff ignored the protesters since police refused to remove them. Some whites tried to drive them off without effect, but the protesters would not quit. The courage this took was enormous, but in the end they won, the owner of the Drugstore came in told the staff to serve the protesters. The next day the drugstore chain announced they would serve anyone of any color. It seems a tiny step, but the tremors it set off rocked America. The National NAACP was not backing this protest, it wasn’t how they worked then, and as a result this protest has largely been forgotten. What really interests me is the many small incidents that preceded even this protest. Individual acts of defiance against the stupidity that showed people how foolish it all was. Each of these acts of bravery sets helps build to the next and even if the heroism is forgotten, the world is shaped by it. This is what I enjoy in history, when you dig deep enough it isn’t the giants that make our history, it is the real people who shape the times around them.

Thanks to Stubborn Facts for Pointing this story out and keeping this history alive. I notice that NPR covered this last week as well.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 30th, 2006 at 4:20 am and is filed under History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.