INC NEWS - Board supports historic marker (Herald-Sun and N&O)

[John Schelp]

Board supports historic marker
By Carolyn Rickard, Herald-Sun, 17 Nov 2007

Durham Public Schools is supporting a move to place a
historic marker at the site of the Royal Ice Cream
Parlor sit-in more than 50 years ago. 

R. Kelly Bryant and Virginia Williams, who
participated in the sit-in, are part of a citizen
committee that plans to appeal to the state's Highway
Historic Marker Advisory Committee on Dec. 17 to
memorialize the historic event with a sign. 

The state committee has turned down requests for a
marker at the site, at the corner of Dowd and North
Roxboro streets, at least four other times, Bryant
told the school board this week. 

"Something should be done," he said. 

Bryant said he requested a sign in 2003, but was told
the site did not have enough historical significance
to warrant a marker. He also requested one in 1999 and
2000 -- and found newspaper accounts of a similar
request in 1979. The school board adopted a resolution
Thursday night saying it supported a marker near where
the ice cream parlor once sat. 

"I can remember those days," said Omega Curtis-Parker,
a board member. "I read about when it happened. It was
in the newspapers and we were all aware of it.
Something needs to be done." 

Some 1,500 markers have been erected across the state,
with 10 to 12 added each year. 

On June 23, 1957, seven black citizens walked into the
Royal Ice Cream Parlor and sat in the white section.
They were arrested. Though it's unclear whether it was
the first such sit-in, it is credited as one of the
precursors of the modern Civil Rights movement in
North Carolina. 

The group said that in the time between the last
request and this year's, more people have become aware
of the historical significance of the sit-in. Several
books and publications have cited it, and during a
50th anniversary commemoration this summer, audience
members encouraged Bryant to appeal the denial. 

Local activist John Schelp encouraged the school
board's support. 

"There are 1,513 historical markers in North Carolina,
and three are for civil rights," he said. "We can do
better." 

****

Not Forgotten
By Jesse James DeConto, News & Observer, 17 Nov 2007

The Durham school board voted unanimously Thursday
night to endorse R. Kelly Bryant's efforts to persuade
the state to install a historic marker at the site of
the Royal Ice Cream Parlor at the corner of Dowd and
Roxboro streets. In 1957, seven black civil-rights
activists staged a sit-in at the whites-only shop in
the historically black East End neighborhood.

Bryant has applied at least three times for state
recognition, but the state has denied each request.

"Fifteen-hundred and thirteen markers in North
Carolina. Three of them are for civil rights," said
Bryant's fellow activist John Schelp. "We can do
better."

Said Bryant: "They had some like, 'DeSoto walked
through here.' Who cares?"

****