US EditionCivil Rights Pioneer Joseph McNeil of Greensboro Four Dies at 83 ...
Joseph McNeil, a decorated U.S. Air Force major general, helped spark sit-ins that led to Woolworth's lunch counter desegregation and inspired protests in over 50 cities, officials said.
- On Thursday, Wilmington native Major General Joseph McNeil died at age 83, his family confirmed to WECT and the Associated Press .
- The Greensboro Four—McNeil, David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Ezell Blair Jr.—refused service on February 1, 1960, sparking sit-ins and protests across the South after staging a sit-in at F.W. Woolworth's lunch counter.
- More protesters joined the sit-in, swelling to at least 1,000 by the fifth day, and North Carolina A&T Chancellor James R. Martin II said it inspired a nation.
- With McNeil's passing, only Jibreel Khazan remains of the original four, and North Carolina A&T State University and McNeil's family said a tribute will be announced later; he is honored on campus and in Wilmington with monuments and a dedicated street segment.
- The Greensboro sit-in prompted protests in more than 50 cities across nine states and helped spur formation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, contributing to the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act.
45 Articles
45 Articles
Joseph McNeil, of the "Greensboro Four", passes at 83
Maj. Gen. Joseph McNeil, a civil rights pioneer and one of the “Greensboro Four,” died on September 4, 2025, at the age of 83. His passing leaves Jibreel Khazan as the sole surviving member of the group of Black college students who helped ignite a nationwide protest movement with a simple, yet courageous, act of […] The post Joseph McNeil, of the “Greensboro Four”, passes at 83 appeared first on The Black Wall Street Times.
Maj. Gen. Joseph McNeil of legendary A&T Four passes away at 83
By Todd SimmonsNorth Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (Sept. 4, 2025) – Maj. Gen. Joseph McNeil, one of the legendary members of the A&T Four who electrified the Civil Rights movement 65 years ago with a sit-in protest that helped lay the groundwork for the 1964 Civil Rights Act, passed away this morning. He was 83. Maj. Gen. Joseph McNeil at the 2020 February 1 celebration. To his right is Jibreel Khaza…
Joseph McNeil, who helped spark a protest movement at a North Carolina lunch counter, dies at 83
Joseph McNeil, one of four North Carolina college students whose occupation of a racially segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter 65 years ago helped spark nonviolent civil rights sit-in protests across the South, died Thursday, his university said. He was 83.
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