Since the Greensboro sit-ins on Feb. 1, 1960, the News & Record has published dozens of stories about what brought the four N.C. A&T freshmen together in an attempt to integrate F.W. Woolworth's lunch counter.

The paper has chronicled their fears as they walked East Market Street to the store where they sat without service the first day and many other days. Readers have seen the stories about the way the sit-ins spread throughout the South, changing race relations across the country. Now, with this website, you can hear the participants tell the stories themselves.

www.sitins.com, originally launched Feb. 1, 1998, and updated in 2004, contains almost 100 audio clips from dozens of hours of recordings with sit-in participants, with interviews from News & Record writer Jim Schlosser, and the Greensboro Public Library.

"The News & Record and the Public Library share the same goal: to lead our community to knowledge," said Sandy Neerman, director of the Greensboro Public Library. "And with this site we can share the richness of this historical event in our community with the world."

With the click of a mouse, users can hear how the original four participants planned the sit-ins. Another click will take you to the voice of Clarence "Curly" Harris, the manager of Woolworth's.

Users can also hear the mayor of the time, George Roach, talk about how the city avoided violent incidents, such as those in Birmingham, Ala.

Several other features will give users a feel for the era and the significance of the sit-ins:

• A timeline, complete with historic photos.
• Historical photos and stories from the News & Record archives, with a photo from the first day of the sit-ins.
• A look at what the Greensboro Public Library has to offer on the subject at their branches.
• An electronic bulletin board, where visitors can write what they think - or, for many, remember - about the sit-ins and where they can see what other people said.
• Extensive links to other civil rights and black history sites, including the NAACP and the National Civil Rights Museum.

Users will find the site especially informative because of the way it is organized. A click on a section, such as "Key Players," will take you to a list of who was involved at the time from colleges. Click on a name and the bio - along with a list of relevant audio clips - will appear.

Sit-ins project credits

Writer and interviewer
Jim Schlosser

Editor
Teresa Prout

Project coordinator
Rod Overton

Greensboro Public Library coordinator
Gerit Battle

Greensboro Public Library Web site producer
Jennifer Worrells

News & Record research
Jennifer Ryan
Dena Harris
Jim Thompson
Linda Lowe / NRinteractive

Original Site production
Odell Clanton
Beau Dure
Sarah Atkinson
With special thanks to Rasheed Basheer and Antti Hietala

Video editing
Allen White

Videography
Eric Moore

Transcription
Frances Honeycutt
Special thanks to Dr. James Farmer for the site introduction.