Editing Durham, North Carolina (section)

===Civil rights movement===
As a result of its substantial African-American community, including many activists, a prominent [[civil rights movement]] developed in Durham. Multiple sit-ins were held, and [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], visited the city during the struggle for equal rights. The Durham Committee on Negro Affairs, organized in 1935 by C.C. Spaulding, Louis Austin, Conrad Pearson, and [[James E. Shepard]], has been cited nationally for its role in fighting for black voting rights. The committee also has used its voting strength to pursue social and economic rights for African-Americans and other ethnic groups. In 1957, [[Douglas E. Moore]], minister of Durham's [[Greater Bethlehem Temple Apostolic Faith Church|Asbury Temple Methodist Church]], along with other religious and community leaders, pioneered sit-ins throughout North Carolina to protest discrimination at lunch counters that served only whites.

Widely credited as the [[Royal Ice Cream sit-in|first sit-in of the civil rights movement in North Carolina]], on June 23, 1957, Moore and six others assembled at the church to plan the protest. The young African Americans moved over to the [[Racial segregation in the United States|segregated]] [[Royal Ice Cream|Royal Ice Cream Parlor]] and took up whites-only booths. When they refused to budge, the manager called the police who charged them with trespassing. Unlike the [[Greensboro Four]], three years later, the Royal Seven were arrested and ultimately found guilty of trespassing.<ref>{{cite news |last=Gregg |first=R. |date=January 19, 2008 |title=NC Finally Recognizes Pre-Woolworth Sit-Ins In 1956 |url=http://www.greensboro3.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=1495&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=2762&hn=greensboro3&he=.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202064022/http://greensboro3.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=1495&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=2762&hn=greensboro3&he=.com |archive-date=February 2, 2009 |work=The Greensboro Telegram |df=mdy}}</ref><ref name="sciblog_Royal">{{cite web|url=http://scienceblogs.com/terrasig/2009/11/dedication_of_1957_royal_ice_c.php |title=Dedication of the 1957 Royal Ice Cream sit-in historical marker |date=November 29, 2009 |publisher=Terra Sigillata |access-date=May 13, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100816045824/http://scienceblogs.com/terrasig/2009/11/dedication_of_1957_royal_ice_c.php |archive-date=August 16, 2010 |df=mdy }}</ref><ref name="hwymkrg123">{{cite web|url=http://www.ncmarkers.com/Markers.aspx?ct=ddl&sp=search&k=Markers&sv=G-123%20-%20ROYAL%20ICE%20CREAM%20SIT-IN |title=G-123 Royal Ice Cream Sit-In |publisher=North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Program |access-date=May 13, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100818183910/http://www.ncmarkers.com/Markers.aspx?ct=ddl&sp=search&k=Markers&sv=G-123%20-%20ROYAL%20ICE%20CREAM%20SIT-IN |archive-date=August 18, 2010 |df=mdy }}</ref>

The six-month-long sit-in at a [[F. W. Woolworth Company|Woolworth]]'s counter in [[Greensboro sit-ins|Greensboro, North Carolina]], captured the nation's attention. Within a week, students from North Carolina College at Durham and Duke University staged a sit-in in Durham. About a week later, Martin Luther King Jr. met Moore in Durham, where King coined his famous rallying cry "Fill up the jails," during a speech at [[White Rock Baptist Church]]. Advocating non-violent confrontation with segregation laws for the first time, King said, "Let us not fear going to jail. If the officials threaten to arrest us for standing up for our rights, we must answer by saying that we are willing and prepared to fill up the jails of the South."

This community was not enough to prevent the demolition of portions of the Hayti district for the construction of the Durham Freeway during the late 1960s.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ehrsam|first1=Frederick|title=The downfall of Durham's historic Hayti: Propagated or preempted by urban renewal?|url=https://sites.duke.edu/djepapers/files/2016/10/Ehrsam-Fred_DJE.pdf}}</ref> The freeway construction resulted in losses to other historic neighborhoods, including [[Morehead Hill Historic District|Morehead Hill]], West End, and [[West Durham Historic District|West Durham]]. Combined with large-scale demolition using Urban Renewal funds, Durham suffered significant losses to its historic architectural base.