Joseph McNeil, one of four college students whose sit-in at a Greensboro lunch counter launched a wave of civil rights protests across the South, has died. He was 83.
His family confirmed his passing to WECT News.
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McNeil is a Wilmington native and was a student at North Carolina A&T University in 1960.
He made history on Feb. 1, 1960, alongside David Richmond, Frank McCain and Ezell Blair, when they refused to give up their seats at a segregated lunch counter. Copycats followed the peaceful protest in segregated facilities across the United States.
The Greensboro Woolworth's where they protest began is now home to the International Civil Rights Center & Museum.
McNeil graduated from NC A&T with a degree in engineering physics and served in the U.S. Air Force, where he reached the rank of major general.