Sit-ins were an integral part of the nonviolent strategy of civil disobedience, ultimately leading to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. It was a method, largely utilized by students, where participants would sit at a lunch counter until they were served. If they were taunted, they did not respond; if they were hit, they did not retaliate, and they oftentimes dressed in their Sunday best. By August 1961, more than 3,000 students across the country were arrested.
Several sit-ins gained national attention and notoriety, such as the demonstration at a Woolworth's store in Greensboro, North Carolina on February 1, 1960, when four students from North Carolina A&T refused to leave the premises until they were served. The men, who eventually became known as the Greensboro Four, were joined by hundreds of demonstrators and attracted attention from television stations and newspapers, helping to spread the movement across the country.
