The event will be an oral history by those who strove to integrate Cleveland’s restaurants and public places in the early 1960s Civil Rights Movement.
Everyone, regardless of race or age, is invited to come learn, experience and share their stories from this important time in American history.
The event is free to the public and is co-sponsored by 100 Black Men of Bradley County Inc. and the Cleveland-Bradley County NAACP.
Cleveland integration is the local educational event running in conjunction with a traveling exhibit from the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville.
“We Shall Not Be Moved: 51st Anniversary of Tennessee’s Civil Rights Sit Ins” exhibit will run at Five Points from June 9 to July 20.
The exhibit focuses on the work of a handful of Nashville college students from Fisk University, Tennessee A&I (later Tennessee State) and American Baptist Theological Seminary, along with religious leaders Kelly Miller Smith and James Lawson, who began a sit-in campaign targeting downtown lunch counters. These actions sparked the formation of a mass sit-in movement, which became the model used across Tennessee and the rest of the South.
Visitors to the exhibit will view photos of these sit-ins which took place in the Tennessee communities of Chattanooga, Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis. They can also see actual items from some of the lunchrooms, view items from nonviolent demonstrations and watch an eight-minute film about the sit-ins which includes original news footage from Nashville.
The Museum Center at Five Points preserves and interprets the history and culture of the Ocoee District of Southeast Tennessee. The museum hosts exhibits and education programs. The Museum Store sells Appalachian arts and crafts from the region. Hours are Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Those seeking more information on the event should contact the museum at 423-339-5745.
