In the Summer of 1958, two dozen young people from the Wichita Branch NAACP Youth Council staged what would become the first successful Student-Led sit-in of the Civil Rights movement. By August 11th, 1958, they had desegregated the Dockum drug store lunch counter and all Rexall Drug Stores throughout the State of Kansas, and the movement gained a powerful new weapon in the fight for equal accommodations.
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Their actions weren't sanctioned by the NAACP National Office; sit-in's were not a recognized NAACP tactic at the time. But under the leadership of Local Branch President Chester I Lewis and Youth Council President Ronald Walters, these young people stood up by sitting down and changed our nation.
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There was no parade or celebration to mark their accomplishment. In fact, their efforts, largely overshadowed by the later Sit-in's in Greensboro and throughout the South, were nearly forgotten by history. The Branch did receive a Thalheimer in 1959 for their work, but none of the Youth who participated in the Sit-in were able to attend.
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On August 9th, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Dockum Sit-In, NAACP members from around the country will converge on Wichita to pay honor and tribute to the members of the NAACP Youth Council of 1958 and their President Dr. Ron Walters.

For more information about Saturday's event, click the link below.