50 Year Anniversary of Drug Store Sit-In Celebrated

50 years ago, a group of Wichita teenagers decided they wanted the same rights as everyone else. They staged a sit-in at the old Dockum Drug Store. It prompted similar movements across the country. Saturday those teenagers, now adults were recognized for their influence on the Civil Rights Movement.

"It's a blessing to be recognized. It's something I never dreamed of," sit-in participant Joyce Glass said.

She and her friends staged a sit in 50 years ago. Saturday about two hundred people thanked them for demanding equal rights. The sit-in is now recognized as the first of its kind in the country. The national NAACP didn't recognize it until this year.

"We simply wanted to make a change and we did," sit-in participant Carol Parks Hahn said.

The sit-in lasted three weeks. Each day, the teens sat at the lunch counter but were not served. "The owner came in one morning and said serve them I'm losing too much money. I happened to be there that day. That's how simple it was to get rid of a long history of discrimination."

Before the sit-in, African American had to ring a bell and stand at the end of the counter. "We changed the policy of the largest drug chain in Kansas, others in Wichita followed suit. We were very pleased we were successful."

Now 50 years later, as they're honored for the steps they took, they urge young people to also step it up and make a difference.


It helped bring about change for racial equality 50 years ago. Saturday morning, about 200 Kansans marched through downtown Wichita residents to commemorate the Dockum Drug Store Sit-In.

On July 19th, a half-century ago, two dozen young African-Americans successfully sat at the drug store's lunch counter meant for whites only. Less than a month later on August 11th they had desegregated the counter, along with the rest of the state's Rexall Drug Stores.

Wichita NAACP President Kevin Myles says it was the first successful sit-in in the nation, but it went unnoticed because the NAACP national chapter didn't recognize the acts of civil disobedience just yet.

A year later the organization gave the local branch its Thalheimer Award, but none of the students could attend the ceremony.

This weekend, that will change. Myles says at least a dozen of the participants will meet with other supporters and march to the same building where they protested in 1958. Also scheduled to make an appearance, the activists' youth leader at the time, Rosie Hughes. She's in her 80's now and won't be able to march.


by Kim Hynes for kwch.com