The 14th in the series it commemorates the site one of the most significant moments in New Orleans’ civil rights history – the Canal Street lunch-counter sit-ins. The subsequent boycott campaign helped dismantle segregation in the Big Easy’s downtown business district. The marker, located at 1001 Canal Street near the site of the former McCrory’s Five and Dime store, was officially unveiled by Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser and members of his team during a ceremony in the city this week.
He said: “The Louisiana Civil Rights Trail tells the stories of courageous individuals whose actions changed our state and our nation for the better. “The brave students and activists who stood up against segregation on Canal Street showed extraordinary determination and sacrifice, and this marker ensures their legacy will continue to inspire future generations and commemorate their courage and determination in moving the Louisiana civil rights movement forward. “Their perseverance helped reshape New Orleans and became part of a larger movement that transformed our country.” The new addition to the Louisiana Civil Rights Trail recognizes the student-led protests that began in 1960 at McCrory’s and F.W. Woolworth’s, where young activists challenged racial segregation by peacefully requesting service at whites-only lunch counters. At the time Canal Street was a major commercial corridor and focal point for civil rights activism. New Orleans’ first sit-in took place at F.W. Woolworth’s Department Store on the corner of Canal and North Rampart streets.
One week later, a second sit-in at McCrory’s led to the arrest of four activists who became known as the “CORE Four” through their involvement with the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE): Rudy Lombard of Xavier University, Oretha Castle Haley of Southern University at New Orleans, Cecil J. Carter of Dillard University, and Sydney Goldfinch, a white student attending Tulane University. The students were arrested and convicted of criminal mischief after peacefully requesting service at the segregated lunch counter.
Their convictions were later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark case Lombard v. Louisiana, bringing national attention to New Orleans’ role in the Civil Rights Movement. The sit-ins sparked a sustained campaign of picketing and economic boycotts against discriminatory business practices along Canal Street. For 735 days, activists pressured merchants to desegregate dining and restroom facilities and expand employment opportunities for African Americans. The campaign ultimately succeeded, helping to transform the city’s commercial landscape and advance civil rights across the region. Today, the former McCrory’s site is occupied by the Ruby Slipper Café, but the new marker ensures that the courage, sacrifice and determination of those who challenged segregation there more than six decades ago will remain a visible and lasting part of New Orleans’ story.
The plaque reads:
Canal Street was a main thoroughfare for sit-ins and boycotts during the Civil Rights Movement. In 1960, New Orleans’ first sit-in took place at F.W. Woolworth’s Department Store on the corner of Canal and N. Rampart streets. A week later at a sit-in at McCrory’s on Canal Street, a group of students, “the CORE Four,” were arrested and convicted of criminal mischief. On a national level, the McCrory’s sit-in is more widely known because the convictions were overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in Lombard v Louisiana. For the next two years, 75 stores on Canal Street were picketed as activists demanded the desegregation of eating and restroom facilities, and for merchants to hire 90 black employees in 75 days. It took 735 days, but the boycott ultimately succeeded.
ENDS
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