58 years ago, San Antonio was the first southern city to integrate lunch counters

Lunch counter at Woolworths Department Store. San Antonio, Texas. March 16,1960. CREDIT: UTSA Libraries Special Collections Lunch counter at Woolworths Department Store. San Antonio, Texas. March 16,1960. CREDIT: UTSA Libraries Special Collections Photo: UTSA Special Collections Photo: UTSA Special Collections Image 1 of / 84 Caption Close 58 years ago, San Antonio was the first southern city to integrate lunch counters 1 / 84 Back to Gallery

On March 16, 1960, San Antonio became the first southern city to begin integration of its small restaurants, according to the book "African Americans in South Texas History."

The book chronicles the events leading up to the day and following. It states San Antonio never actually had segregation laws in place, but the police still enforced de facto segregation.

One of the essays in the publication, Racial Change on the Southern Periphery: The Case of San Antonio, Texas 1960-1965 by Robert A. Goldberg, gives insight to the atmosphere within the city during the controversial time. Goldberg’s essay states that in town, “civil rights has been granted, not won” and “voluntary desegregation – the 'Texas way'" was an example for other cities in the state.

“San Antonio showed the way and the rest of the region, rejecting the example of the deep South followed,” the essay adds.

As a response to the February event in which four African American college students in Greensboro, N.C. demonstrated a sit-in at a lunch counter when they were denied service, San Antonio downtown businesses agreed they would refuse service to African Americans who attempted the same type of demonstration.

With the backing of the San Antonio chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Our Lady of the Lake College freshman Mary Andrews sent letters to six city stores on March 7, asking for desegregation of their eating areas.

After Andrews sent the letters, conversations on racial policy fired up within the city led by church leaders and businessmen. The integration of lunch counters to avoid the problematic situations caused by the issue in other states was seen as motivation to move forward in granting Andrews’ wishes. But, businesses were hesitant, fearing there would be economic repercussions from the white community if they complied, according to the essay.

In the days leading up to March 16, a rally was hosted by the NAACP as conversations and exclusive meetings continued.

While the topic intensified, the city showed support for integration. Goldberg accredits city officials like Chief of Police George Bichsell and City Attorney Carlos C. Cadena for their remarks concerning potential sit-in demonstrations in the city. Bichsell told news outlets that police would not stop sit-ins, unless they “created a disturbance.” Cadena furthered the sentiment by declaring sit-ins “would not be considered a breach of peace.”

An agreement was finally reached. Store owners would comply and serve black customers without racial barriers if the church leaders helped “mobilize” their congregations to support the movement, in an effort to safeguard against backlash.

San Antonio clergymen were asked to “speak from the pulpits on the topic” and ask their respective community members to “cooperate by commending the businessmen for their vision and action” and ask them to show “appreciation by continued patronage and in every other means of assurance.”

Finally, on March 16, without much attention, four black people were served at once-segregated San Antonio lunch counters, according to Goldberg.

The only backlash from the decision businessmen were nervous to enact were a “few cancelled charge accounts and hostile telephone calls,” Goldberg wrote.

Although the changed policy seemed to go largely unnoticed, San Antonio “basked in the spotlight as the first major southern city to integrate its lunch counters.”

Goldberg’s essay lists the San Antonio Express-News as a voice of support for integration during the time in saying, “we are confident that everyone concerned in the present situation has come this far in good faith. It is incumbent upon us all to see that this good faith approach is allowed to continue.”

In the days following, a banquet with both black and white attendees was hosted to celebrate the accomplishment. Since the integration of lunch counters was an initial step in desegregation, the San Antonio Interracial Committee was founded the next month with the goal of swaying public opinion against segregation.

Five years after the first movement of integration, city council integrated all public areas with the passing of an ordinance. Businesses that did not comply were fined, according to Glasrud.

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