The Register, 1992-02-14

              the greensboro four an a&t legacy freshmen group stages sitdown demonstration for food in dime store by albert l rozeer jr the greensboro four at the 30 year anniversary of the sit-in february 1 1990 a&t remembers haley others join in he perception of alex haley following is a dialogue 61 the in itial conversation between blair and the waitress behind the lunch talk with waitress four freshman students of this institution started mon day afternoon what they termed a passive demand for ser vice at the lunch counter of a downtown five and dime store according to ezell blair leader of the group he and three other students — franklin mclain david richmond and joseph mcneill — went into the store at approximately 4:30 p.m on monday purchased small articles from a counter near the lunch bar and took seats an effort on their part to frighten at the lunch counter us away but we stayed until 5:30 when the store closed he con tinued the group said they tried to talk to the manager of the lunch coun ter and when they were refused audience asked to speak with the manager of the store but were de nied this too they said that during the entire time they have been there they have not so much as seen the manager they entered the store at 10:30 a.m and remained throughout the day they were not served the waitress stating that it's a store regulation — a custom blair stated that the demonstr ation was originally planned for two or three weeks but that now we are preparing to continue to sit for as long as is necessary — until we're served the next morning tuesday feb ruary 3 a group of approximately twenty students — including the freshman initiators of the demon stration — returned and took seats j at the counter after this conversation said blair the waitress left them and went to the other end of the counter immediately following this con versation however he stated that a negro girl a helper on the coun ter confronted them saying you aie stupid ignorant you're dumb that's why we can't get anywhere today you know you are supposed to eat at the other end waitress well you won't get any service here blair what do you mean this is a public place isn't it if it isn't then why don't you sell member ship cards if you do that then i'll understand that this is a priv ate concern waitress negroes eat on the other end blair i beg to disagree with you you just finished serving me at a counter only two feet from here waitress i'm sorry we don't serve colored here blair i'd like a cup of coffee counter please group ignored rhis is a reprinted article from the february 5,1960 issue of the a&t register after this brief encounter the students said they were complete ly ignored when they asked ques tions they were not answered i told the waitress we'd sit there until we were served said mc neill she said nothing policemen came in and stared at us and walk ed up and down the aisle but said nothing to us we figured it was american by betsy peoples associate news editor roots:the saga alex haley the african-american author whose historic novel " reshap famih blacks and inspired an interest in genealogy among many americans died monday in seattle j ... haley 70 died of an apparent heart attack he was in washington to speak at the naval submarine base at ban auditorium we have to read everthing we get our hands on haley did his part to rewrite history there is still a lot of work for us to do through haley's imagination and keen recollections he helped mil lions acquire the insatiable desire to learn of their ancestors and discover their roots haley's works include the autobi ography of malcolm x he has writ students listened to haley as he commended history as he remembered it from his ancestors haley remin iscesed about his father simon who earned an agriculture degree from a&t gor less than four months ago haley spoke to an overflow crowd in harri son auditorium haley's works continues to have profound impact on society students need to rededicate themselves to the study of our roots said tony wat lington vice president of internal affairs during a special tribute to haley held thursday in harrison in 1977 halev won a pulitzer prize ten articles for national magazines appeared on televison shows and lec tured throughout the country for roots where he recreated one of his ancestors life in west africa his capture into slavery and his experi ences in the new world the autobiography of malcolm x was published in 1965 the year of malcolm's assassination this book is required reading today in many high schools and colleges it has sold more that 8 million copies in six languages and is expected to sell a lot more following the fall release of spike lee's film version mcnair lauded in memorial north carolina a&t state unversity events of history chronologically ronald mcnair by betsy peoples associate news editor a&t joined the nation in the cele bration of an american hero dr ronald e mcnair astronaut physicist and a&t alumnus was remembered in a commemorative memorial program sponsored by the student government association in mcnair hall auditorium jan 28 the speaker for the occasion w.b williams an aerospace engineer at the johnson space center in houston texas became friends with mcnair in 1978 when he accompanied him for a recruitment trip at a&t a sense of love and caring filled the hallways here as i walked through them in the heart of all the people that occupied them said williams smil ing while reminiscing it is indeed a honor to be in a place where such a great man once called d insi e on the serious tip 2 our people our pride 3 on the yard 5 around the block 4 sports 9 prepared by virginia d ' mckee(1987 1891 a & m college for colored cultural and trade for race began temporary operations public schools llfefe at shaw university in raleigh n.c 1909 alma mater was adopted 1892 greensboro selected as site 1910 poultry department estab for the college lished 1892 john o crosby elected first 1915 name changed to negro president agricultural and technical college 1893 operations of college in of n.c permanent location greensboro 1917 negro agricultural and vo beganinfall cational state extension service 1893 college newspaper the established register was authorized at a & t 1893 female students admitted 1893 first biennial of 10,000 granted in additiion to regular 2,500 1894 board established rules and regulations for faculty 1896 james b dudley elected 2nd president 1897 college authorize to offer courses leading to b s degree 1899 first class to received b.s degree 1901 female enrollment discontin ued all male 1907 dairy department estab lished teacher training for agri williams applauded the university on its ambitious long range compre hensive proposal for the invoking of doctoral institutions to tie additional disciplines between 1994-1998 he closed with what mcnair said in his 1978 speech aggie born aggiebred and when i die i will be aggie dead program he said we are prepared to continue that leadership roll as the company ex pands the presence of humans in space we at johnson stand willing to take the risk in what we see as our destiny our destiny to reach out and to explore the unknown to bring back the return on our investment in space in benefit of the american people miss a&t pamela askew said mcnair would challenge all students and faculty to remain true to a&t she said that his legacy encourages that more students get involved mcnair once said in a august 1986 essence magazine article dated au gust 1986 i thanked god that through a black university i had the chance to develop the desire to be and opportu nity to do we need more african-american astronauts it would be tragic for ron to know that the trail that he has blazed has not been followed williams suggested that students get their applications in for nasa astro naut training program wewantevery person that graduates with a scientific degree from a&t for the next 10 years to submit application to the astronaut home liams said williams said mcnair proved to the world that a person from a historically black university could become an astronaut it is not an impossible dream but first we must apply wil february 14,1992 gm a&t register » r yffc ij north carolina agricultural and technical state university jrc*^ot greensboro north carolina volume 67 no 5