Reflections for a New Generation from Kappas of the “Friendship 9” I n 1961, students of Friend- ship Junior College by the names of Willie Thomas “Dub” Massey (Alpha Epsi- lon 1964) James Wells (Rock performed repetitive tasks such as moving bricks from one point to another and back again or shoveling sand into dump trucks. America with inclusion in school curriculums and historical works. The protest by himself and the others that included jail time rather than paying a fine “is unique to any- where else in the United States,” Massey said.
Hill (SC) Alumni 1997), Clarence Graham, Willie McCleod, Robert McCullough, David Williamson Jr., John Gaines and Mack Work- man were accompanied by Thomas Gaither of the Congress of Racial Equality for a “sit-in.” The students, who had no criminal histories, de- manded to be served at the Five & Dine restaurant in Rock Hill, South Carolina. The sit-in strategy started at a North Carolina Woolworth counter in 1960 and brought much-needed attention to the cause, but it was also bankrupting civil rights groups because bailing out protesters was expensive. The Friendship 9 chose an alterna- tive: “Jail, no bail.” This strategy was a crucial moment for the sit-in movement. It eased the burden of high court fees being accumulated by activists across the South, em- barrassed local officials and forced the respective states to bear the cost of housing them. In February of 1961, “As soon as we sat down, we were arrested,” stated Wells. They were taken out of the McCrory’s variety store and later convicted for trespassing and breach of peace, charges punish- able by 30 days in prison. The young men intentionally refused to pay the $100 fine and spent 30 days at the York County Prison Farm as a part of a chain gang. There, they
And for more than 50 years he re- minded, “I [had] a criminal record.” Filling out applications and having to disclose the conviction was never far from members of the group’s minds, in terms of whether it would effect employment “I think it was a badge of honor. It was,” said Massey. “I think all of us realized we had tapped into some- thing.” The crime was being Black at an all-White lunch counter. A few years after the sit-in, actions such as the Friendship 9’s were no longer a crime. The federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires that everyone has equal access to public places, including restaurants. After Massey finished college and was drafted into a “two-year hitch in the United States Army," he started teaching sixth-grade at York’s all- Black Jefferson school in the 1960s. He also served as a counselor and minister. He has through his 70s, served as a substitute teacher. In speaking to a group of young people, he shared that he did not want them to forget the struggle for equality for all, and that younger people should never take their struggle for granted.
Massey, who was 18 at the time, recalled the feeling of not know- ing if he would ever get out alive or if his life would be ruined if he did survive. Later, he worked to encourage the county to embrace the Friendship 9’s contribution to
Publishing achievement for more than 100 years
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