On February 1, 1960, four black college students entered a Woolworth’s lunch counter and resisted Jim Crow Law Laws by sitting down and asking to be served at whites-only lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C. They returned daily for six months until the counter was desegregated.

Dubbed the “Greensboro Four,” the men inspired thousands of peaceful sit-ins, becoming one of the central strategies of the American civil rights movement.

On February 1, the same building that housed the lunch counter opened as the International Civil Rights Center and Museum that will offer public tours of exhibits depicting life under Jim Crow, the power of civil disobedience, and, of course, the famous lunch counter that played a key role in this country's civil rights movement.

"This museum exists because there was the time that we don't want to go back to," says Franklin McCain, one of the participants in the sit-in half a century ago. "And it also represents a kind of beacon for what's possible and it says to people that all sorts of good things are possible if people work together and respect each other."

What can you do?

• Young people were a vital part of the civil rights movement. Research how the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was established to expand student involvement and share your findings with your friends and family.
• Get your community on board to celebrate Black History Month with performances, plays and art shows.