INC NEWS - INC resolution supporting state highway marker for Royal Ice Cream sit-in

[John Schelp]

Dear neighbors,

Last night, the InterNeighborhood Council endorsed the
resolution supporting a state marker for the Royal Ice
Cream Sit-in. Many, many thanks to all the delegates
who voted for approval. 

Some of you mentioned that neighborhood associations
are also going to endorse the resolution and suggested
posting it again on the INC listserv -- so others can
join the effort.

Below is the resolution. If your neighborhood
association votes to support, please send me an email.
We'll include your group's name when we go to Raleigh
on Dec 17.

We do feel it's important that the Royal Ice Cream
sit-in is recognized by the State of North Carolina
with an "official" state marker. 

Of the 1,513 state markers across North Carolina, only
three commemorate the Civil Rights movement. We can do
better. This needs to be an official recognition from
the state.

Again, thank you INC!

best,

John Schelp
(group of supporters for the Royal Ice Cream marker)

*****

Resolution of Support

for the 

December 17, 2007 Appeal

to the 

Highway Historic Marker Advisory Committee

at the 

Office of Archives and History 
NC Department of Cultural Resources


WHEREAS, the Royal Ice Cream Parlor Sit-in occurred in
Durham, North Carolina on June 23, 1957 and whereas
this direct action protested the institutionalized
racial segregation that existed in the Southern Region
of the United States of America; and

WHEREAS, the social, legal, and educational
implications of the actions of seven Durham citizens
foreshadowed the civil rights movement that would
unfold in North Carolina during the decade of the
1960s; and

WHEREAS, in retrospection, civil rights veterans,
historians, and students increasingly point to the
pivotal nature of the Royal Ice Cream Parlor sit-in;
and

WHEREAS, in 2003, Durham’s R. Kelly Bryant
meticulously researched, prepared, and submitted a
formal application for an official state historic
marker to be cast and erected near the site of the
Royal Ice Cream Parlor; and

WHEREAS, the Highway Historic Marker Advisory
Committee of the North Carolina Archives and History
Department denied the Bryant request in 2003, citing a
lack of historical significance; and

WHEREAS, several recent publications have increased
the comprehensive awareness and the significant
linkage of the 1957 events in Durham to the broader
history of civil rights in North Carolina; and 

WHEREAS, the 2006 publication of the Encyclopedia of
North Carolina edited by UNC-CH Professor-Emeritus
William S. Powell makes several references to Rev.
Douglas Moore and the Royal Sit-in.  This reference
source also carries a famous photo of the Royal Sit-in
participants.  This photo is from the collection of
Virginia Williams, who was one of those participants. 
The photo is a permanent part of the Durham Civil
Rights Heritage Project, which is associated with the
North Carolina Collection at the Durham County
Library; and

WHEREAS, the 2002 edition of A History of
African-Americans in North Carolina by Jeffrey J.
Crow, Paul Escott, and Flora J. Hatley mentions that
the 1957 Durham sit-in “presages” the modern civil
rights movement in North Carolina.   Jeffrey J. Crow
currently directs the Office of Archives and History
and serves as the Deputy Secretary of the Department
of Cultural Resources; and 

WHEREAS, the 2005 book Our Separate Ways: Black Women
and the Black Freedom Movement in Durham, North
Carolina by Christina Greene devotes several pages to
the Royal sit-in and its significance to later direct
action in other cities in North Carolina and across
the South; and 

WHEREAS, The Durham Herald-Sun, The Raleigh News and
Observer, The Triangle Tribune, The Durham News, The
Carolina Times, The Independent Weekly, Bull City
Rising, Bull’s Eye, Barry Ragin’s Blog, other blogs,
Time-Warner Channel 14, WRAL-TV, WTVD-TV, other
television stations, radio, websites, Preservation
Durham, The Duke Center for Documentary Studies, The
NCCU Office of Archives and Public Life, Durham
Technical Community College, The North Carolina
Collection at the Durham County Library, and
word-of-mouth have helped to raise the collective
consciousness of the importance of the Royal Sit-in;
and 

WHEREAS, the 50th anniversary year is a noteworthy
milestone that serves to honor the courage and
commitment of the Royal Seven and people of all
ethnicities and cultures who have worked to eliminate
racial segregation and other human barriers; and 

WHEREAS, the 50th anniversary year of the 1957 Royal
Sit-in brings special motivation and inspiration for
improved interpersonal relations for the younger,
middle, and older citizens of Durham and the entire
world; and

WHEREAS, the audience members at the recent 50th
anniversary commemoration of the Royal Sit-in
encouraged R. Kelly Bryant to appeal the earlier
denial by the Historic Marker Committee;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED

That we do hereby support, encourage, and endorse the
efforts of R. Kelly Bryant, Virginia Williams, and
others in their December 17, 2007 appeal to the
Highway Historical Marker Advisory Committee at the
Office of Archives and History for a state-sponsored
marker that commemorates the 1957 Royal Ice Cream
Parlor Sit-in in Durham, North Carolina.