The Counter Where Dignity Was Measured in Inches

On February 1, 1960, four freshmen from North Carolina A&T State University — Ezell Blair Jr. , Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond — walked into the F. W. Woolworth store in Greensboro, North Carolina, purchased toothpaste and school supplies, then sat down at the whites-only lunch counter and ordered coffee. They were refused. A waitress told them, "We don't serve colored here."…