On February 8, 1960 Carl Matthews sat down at the S. H. Kress Lunch counter which would begin the sit-in-movement in Winston-Salem. On Feb. 23, 1960 eleven African-American students at Winston-Salem Teachers College and 10 white students at Wake Forest joined the protest. From Winston-Salem Teachers College were Royal Joe Abbitt, Everette L. Dudley, Deloris M. Reeves, Victor Johnson Jr., William Andrew Bright, Bruce Gaither, Jefferson Davis Diggs III, Algemenia Giles, Donald C. Bradley, Lafayette Cook and Ulysses Grant Green; and from Wake Forest University were Linda Cohen, Linda Guy, Margaret Ann Dutton, Bill Stevens, Joe Chandler, Don Bailey, Paul Watson, Anthony Wayland Johnson, George Williamson and Jerry Wilson. On May 25, 1960, Winston-Salem became the first city in North Carolina to desegregate its lunch counters. Matthews became the African American to be served. He also initiated and financed the First Freedom Ride of the 60’s to allow Negroes to sit where they chose on GreyBuses. He also initiated the breakdown of rear-seat segregation in the courtrooms of Winston-Salem and led the first successful demonstration to open up restrooms facilities for Negro women in downtown Winston-Salem
