February One
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''February One'' (also referred to as the A&T Four Monument) is the name of the 2002 monument dedicated to
Ezell Blair Jr. Jibreel Khazan (born Ezell Alexander Blair Jr.; October 18, 1941) is a civil rights activist who is best known as a member of the Greensboro Four, a group of African American college students who, on February 1, 1960, sat down at a segregated ...
,
Franklin McCain Franklin Eugene McCain (January 3, 1941 – January 9, 2014) was an American civil rights activist and member of the Greensboro Four. McCain, along with fellow North Carolina A&T State University students Ezell Blair Jr., Joseph McNeil an ...
,
Joseph McNeil Joseph Alfred McNeil (born March 25, 1942) is a retired Major general (United States), major general in the United States Air Force who is best known for being a member of the Greensboro Four; a group of African American college students who, on ...
and David Richmond who were collectively known as the Greensboro Four. The 15-foot bronze and marble monument is located on the western edge of the campus of
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...
in
Greensboro Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...
,
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
. James Barnhill, the sculptor who created the monument, was inspired by the historic 1960 image of the four college aged men leaving the downtown Greensboro Woolworth store after holding a
sit-in A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. The protestors gather conspicuously in a space or building, refusing to mo ...
protest of the company's policy of
segregating In taxonomy, a segregate, or a segregate taxon is created when a taxon is split off from another taxon. This other taxon will be better known, usually bigger, and will continue to exist, even after the segregate taxon has been split off. A segregate ...
its lunch counters. The sit-in protests were a significant event in the
Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
due to increasing national sentiment of the fight for the civil rights of African-Americans during this period in American history.


Artist

James Barnhill (born 1955) is a native of
Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...
. He received a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in
Art Education Visual arts education is the area of learning that is based upon the kind of art that one can see, visual arts—drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, and design in jewelry, pottery, weaving, fabrics, etc. and design applied to more practic ...
from the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
and later a
Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...
degree in sculpture from
University of North Carolina at Greensboro The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. UNCG, like all members of the UNC system, is a stand-al ...
. Barnhill has won a number of awards for his works including: the Jefferson D. Ruben Memorial Award for classical sculpture and the Leonard J. Meiselman Prize for a ‘realistic sculpture done in the classical tradition.’ Other works of his include: ''Minerva'', on the campus of UNC Greensboro; a bronze bust of
Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...
for the
Booker T. Washington National Monument The Booker T. Washington National Monument is a National Monument near the community of Hardy, Virginia, and is located entirely in rural Franklin County, Virginia. It preserves portions of the 207-acre (0.90 km2) tobacco farm on which educ ...
; ''Angel of Montoursville'', for the town of
Montoursville, Pennsylvania Montoursville is a borough in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. The 2020 census reported its population as 4,745. It forms part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Williamsport Regional Airport is in Montoursville. ...
honoring those that died during the TWA Flight 800 crash; and ''General Greene'', a sculpture of Revolutionary War General
Nathanael Greene Nathanael Greene (June 19, 1786, sometimes misspelled Nathaniel) was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. He emerged from the war with a reputation as General George Washington's most talented and dependabl ...
commissioned by the city of Greensboro for its
bicentennial __NOTOC__ A bicentennial or bicentenary is the two-hundredth anniversary of a part, or the celebrations thereof. It may refer to: Europe *French Revolution bicentennial, commemorating the 200th anniversary of 14 July 1789 uprising, celebrated ...
celebration. Barnhill currently serves on the board of directors for the African-American Atelier, and has previously served on the board of directors for the North Carolina Arts Council and the Greensboro Art Alliance. Currently he serves as an Assistant Professor of Art at North Carolina A&T State University.


Sculpture

''February One'' was commissioned in 2001 by then university
chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
James C. Renick James Carmichael Renick (December 8, 1948 – January 3, 2021) was an American academic, who served as Chancellor of University of Michigan–Dearborn and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Renick served also as the Provo ...
. The statue, which took its creator, James Barnhill, a year to complete, stands at tall. The four larger-than-life figures, which stand around tall, depict the likenesses of David Richmond,
Franklin McCain Franklin Eugene McCain (January 3, 1941 – January 9, 2014) was an American civil rights activist and member of the Greensboro Four. McCain, along with fellow North Carolina A&T State University students Ezell Blair Jr., Joseph McNeil an ...
, Jibreel Khazan (then known as Ezell Blair Jr.) and
Joseph McNeil Joseph Alfred McNeil (born March 25, 1942) is a retired Major general (United States), major general in the United States Air Force who is best known for being a member of the Greensboro Four; a group of African American college students who, on ...
; the four A&T students who became known as the "
Greensboro Four The Greensboro sit-ins were a series of nonviolent protests in February to July 1960, primarily in the Woolworth store—now the International Civil Rights Center and Museum—in Greensboro, North Carolina, which led to the F. W. Woolworth Comp ...
" for their sit-in at Woolworth's department store in 1960. The figures were created to illustrate the now historic image of the group walking out of Woolworth's after their protest. In an interview with the ''A&T Register'', the University's newspaper, Barnhill stated that a stronger visual impact would be achieved by showing the four marching as opposed to sitting, and would better capture the essence of the men. The statue's base, which stands at tall, bears the names of each of the four men, and also, is inscribed on its front: "These four A&T Freshmen envisioned and carried out the lunch counter sit-in of February 1, 1960 in downtown Greensboro. Their courageous act against social injustice inspired similar progress across the nation and is remembered as a defining moment in the struggle for civil rights." During the construction of the statue, Barnhill had to build four individual skeletal frames for each subject, in addition to, rolling stands for support. The frames were created by a combination of one-inch steel pipes and a diamond mesh material. Once the frames were covered with over 6,000 pounds of water-based clay, sectional molds had to be made, so that the figures could be sent to a
foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...
, where molds of the figures would be created.


Dedication

On February 1, 2002, the statue was unveiled in a ceremony in front of the James B. Dudley Memorial Building on North Carolina A&T's campus. The ceremony was part of a day long celebration to honor the 42nd anniversary of the
Greensboro Sit-Ins The Greensboro sit-ins were a series of nonviolent protests in February to July 1960, primarily in the Woolworth store—now the International Civil Rights Center and Museum—in Greensboro, North Carolina, which led to the F. W. Woolworth Comp ...
. The ceremony included remarks by university Chancellor, James C. Renick; provost, Carolyn Meyers; the statue's creator, James Barnhill; and Franklin McCain. The dedication ceremony was attended by all three surviving members of the Greensboro Four. David Richmond, who died in 1990, was represented by his son David "Chip" Richmond Jr.


Significance

The actions taken by the Greensboro Four were instrumental in increasing national sentiment for the fight for the civil rights of African-Americans during this period in American history. As media coverage of the protests increased, demonstrations spread throughout the
Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
. Citizens in other southern cities began to protest not just for the desegregation of lunch counters, but also for equal service on other public accommodations such as: transport facilities; art galleries; beaches; parks; swimming pools; libraries; and even museums. Overall, the sit-ins were successful in achieving the desegregation of lunch counters and other public places throughout the south. In
Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
for instance, the sit-ins of the
Nashville Student Movement The Nashville Student Movement was an organization that challenged racial segregation in Nashville, Tennessee during the Civil Rights Movement. It was created during workshops in nonviolence taught by James Lawson. The students from this orga ...
had such an impact that public amenities were desegregated by May 1960.


See also

* '' February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four'' (2003 documentary) *'' Seizing Justice: The Greensboro 4'' (2010 documentary) *
Civil rights movement in popular culture The history of the 1954 to 1968 American civil rights movement has been depicted and documented in film, song, theater, television, and the visual arts. These presentations add to and maintain cultural awareness and understanding of the goals, tact ...


References


External links


The Making of the ''February One'' Monument Documentary
{{North Carolina A&T State University North Carolina A&T State University Bronze sculptures in North Carolina 2002 sculptures Monuments and memorials of the civil rights movement Marble sculptures in the United States 2002 establishments in North Carolina Statues in North Carolina Sculptures of men in North Carolina Sculptures of African Americans