Houston's First Sit-In
Houston, Harris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
From 1896 until the 1960s in the southern United States, Jim Crow Laws effectively banned African Americans from using public facilities and basic services that were used by whites. In March 1960, thirteen students from Texas Southern University (TSU) started a non-violent movement protesting these laws and changed Houston forever. These young architects of change formed the Progressive Youth Association (PYA), meeting at the South Central YMCA or in their apartments to plan strategies. These “War Room” meetings are where they organized Houston’s first sit-in. On March 4, 1960, the thirteen students met at a flagpole on TSU’s campus and marched in pairs one mile to Weingarten’s Supermarket (4110 Almeda Road) with the objective of being served at the lunch counter. Dozens more joined them as they marched, singing black spirituals. Though white employees refused to serve the students and patrons hurled insults at them, they sat there silently for hours, occupying all 30 counter stools in shifts. More sit-ins occurred over the following days and weeks. The sit-in at Weingarten’s Supermarket was the first in a series of non-violent demonstrations leading to the peaceful end of segregation in public places. Houston’s lunch counters quietly desegregated on August 25, 1960. Department stores, hotels and restaurants soon followed, and Houston’s Astrodome opened in 1965 as an integrated facility. The sit-ins ended with the signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Today, these thirteen unsung heroes are remembered for starting a movement that advanced civil rights and equality in Houston. (2009)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In March 1960, thirteen students from Texas Southern University formed the Progressive Youth Association and planned Houston's first sit-in. Marching in pairs to Weingarten's Supermarket, they occupied the lunch counter in silent shifts as employees refused service and onlookers hurled insults. Their nonviolent protest sparked weeks of demonstrations that led Houston's lunch counters to quietly desegregate that August.
Why it matters
These young activists brought the sit-in movement to Texas, proving that disciplined nonviolent protest could dismantle Jim Crow even in a major Southern city.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related events
- · Weingarten's sit-in
- · Progressive Youth Association
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Married Ladies Social, Art & Charity Club
Houston, TX
On September 8, 1902, twelve women of Houston's Black elite founded this club to lift up both their members and their community. They decorated floats for Juneteenth parades, aided victims of the 1912 Fifth Ward fire, ran scholarships, and offered lodging to distinguished Black visitors barred from hotels under Jim Crow. Its members included civic leader Jennie Covington and civil rights activist Christia Adair, and the club continues its charitable mission today.
Houston Negro Chamber of Commerce
Houston, TX
In September 1935, in the teeth of both the Depression and Jim Crow, Houston's Black community leaders founded the Houston Negro Chamber of Commerce to build economic power where segregation had walled it out. With J.E. Robinson Sr. as its first president, the chamber promoted Black-owned businesses, pushed residents to pay poll taxes so they could vote, and championed fair housing and employment. During World War II its office even doubled as a rations headquarters. In 1964, under Mack H. Hannah Jr., it became the Houston Citizens Chamber of Commerce, which endures today.
Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ
Houston, TX
Founded in 1904 in Houston's Freedmen's Town, Pilgrim Congregational was the city's first African American Congregational church, begun in the Rev. G.B.M. Turner's home. Its members left a lasting civic mark—helping establish the Colored Carnegie Library in 1909 and the local NAACP chapter in 1918—and city schools were later named for early leaders including educator E.O. Smith. Renamed after a 1957 denominational merger, the congregation moved to Blodgett Street in 1974 and still honors its ties to the 1839 Amistad captives and their Congregationalist defenders.
Grand Court Order of Calanthe of Texas
Houston, TX
Amid the "golden age" of African American fraternal societies, the Order of Calanthe took shape in 1883 as a women's auxiliary of the Colored Knights of Pythias, offering Black women sick benefits, life insurance, and a rare arena of self-governance. Organized in Texas by 1898 and headquartered in Houston, the Grand Court grew into one of the most successful female-led fraternal insurers in the country, managing millions of dollars, making mortgage loans to Black residents, and joining the local NAACP's fight for voting and civil rights. In 1948 its members raised a state headquarters on Dowling Street, a modern building owned and run by Black women when that was almost unheard of.