Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 5-18-18

Feature
Historical Woolworth ‘Sit-In’ Marker To Be Unveiled Downtown On Saturday
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
After months of research and fundraising, on Saturday a marker denoting the his- toric sit-in at the former Woolworth’s counter in downtown Tampa finally is ready for its public debut.
The marker will tell the story of Clarence Fort, a then 20-year-old leader of the Tampa NAACP’s Youth Council who – on Feb. 29, 1960 – led 50 students from Blake and Middleton High Schools in a sit-in at the five- and-dime store.
During those times, the U. S. was segregated. Black people could not sit at any lunch counters, had to ride on the back of the bus and at- tended segregated schools.
A brief program unveiling of the marker at the site of the former store – at the cor- ner of Polk Street and Florida Avenue – will start at 10 a.m.
The building still stands, but there’s nothing at or near the location that talks about the courageous actions of Fort and those students,
Tammie Fields, spear- headed the effort to have the historical marker placed at Woolworth.
Tammie Fields said.
“I want young people when walking downtown ... I want them to stop and pause and see when there was a time (African Americans) couldn’t stop and get a cup of coffee,” she said. “I want to see how that maker impacts
people walking by.”
The journey to commem-
orate one of Tampa’s most prominent moments of civil rights activism began last year as part of journalist Fields’ final project require- ment for her graduate studies program at the University of
Then 20-year-old Clarence Fort made history by organiz- ing a ‘sit-in’ at the segregated lunch counter at Woolworth in Downtown Tampa. (Photo From Sentinel Files)
Arthenia Joyner – who also participated in the sit-in – was helpful in tracking down some of the students, contacting them wherever they were located including hospitals and assisted-living centers, she said.
“It has been hard to find these people physically,” she said. “I feel even as a journal- ist we didn’t leave any stone unturned.”
Fields said she’s hopeful that those students who have been found – or members of their families – are present at the unveiling.
After all, they are the rea- son it exists, she said.
“The marker is for those brave souls who came out Feb. 29, 1960,” she said. “I would love for them to be able to come.”
If You Go
The unveiling of the Woolworth historical marker will take place at 10 a.m. Sat- urday at 801 N. Franklin St., in Tampa. Parking is avail- able on the street and in des- ignated lots. For more information about the Wool- worth project, visit www.tammiefields.com/tpa- woolworth.
South Florida – St. Peters- burg.
Fields, an anchor at Or- lando’s Spectrum News 13, who formerly worked at WTSP in Tampa, said she’s long been fascinated by the courageous actions of Fort and the students. So when it came time to select a topic for her project, her choice was ‘the sit-in’.
“The only thing I could think of that needed a bigger spotlight was this marker,”
she said.
But doing so required
Fields to take on duties in addition to storyteller and re- searcher, but also fundraiser.
Costs for the marker to- taled more than $2,000. Fields raised about $1,300 through an online campaign and Hillsborough County pitched in $1,850. Fields also donated money.
Raising the money neces- sary was a challenge, but finding the student activists also was difficult, Fields said.
Former State Sen.
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