“R” is for the Rock Hill Movement. Led by the politically charged students of Friendship Junior College, the Rock Hill Movement signaled a major change in the protest tactics by black Carolinians—supplementing legal challenges with direct, large-scale demonstrations against segregation laws and customs. A boycott of the city’s segregated bus system forced the company out of business. Within days of the first Greensboro sit-in, almost all 224 students at Friendship organized similar demonstrations at segregated facilities in Rock Hill. Students jailed for their protests adopted the “jail, no bail” tactic that brought national attention. The sit-ins that began in Rock Hill soon spread across South Carolina. While the Rock Hill Movement failed in its immediate efforts to desegregate downtown businesses, its participants influenced young black activists across the South.
“R” is for the Rock Hill Movement
