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Thinking Out Loud

Museum coin moving forward

In a conference call with reporters today, Sen. Kay Hagan officially announced that she will file a bill calling for a $1 dollar coin that commemorates the Greensboro sit-ins.

She said she hopes the bill would become law in time for the 50th anniversary of the sit-ins and the opening of the International Civil Rights Center and Museum that honors the sit-ins in downtown Greensboro on Feb. 1, 2010.

Hagan, a Democrat, said the bill should receive bipartisan support. Rep. Howard Coble, a Republican from Greensboro, is sponsoring a similar bill in the House.

When asked if she envisioned any opposition to the bill, Hagan said no. “For the life of me, I can’t see any resistance, “she said. “Unless some other senator is pushing a coin.”

Hagan said she hadn’t spoken yet with her GOP colleague, Richard Burr, about the sit-in coin, but “You better believe I will.”

Eddie Bridges, the local outdoorsman who hatched the idea, must be feeling pretty good right now.

The coin could become an important fund-raiser for the museum.

Beyond that, it’s a well-deserved national honor for the Greensboro Four.

Update and correction: Hagan's office called to correct an earlier statement from the senator. Democrat Brad Miller is sponsoring the House bill, not Republican Howard Coble, because the museum is located in Miller's distirct. Coble does, however, support the idea.

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Posted by Allen Johnson on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at 12:08 pm

What do you think?

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Christopher Rees

October 21, 2009 - 6:43 pm EDT

Um, I think the coin is a great idea too. Corene Blair (the mother of one of the Greensboro Four) was one of my customers (she has Alzheimer's now, God bless her).
But I must confess that I'm trying to contact you so as to prompt you in to a decision on the BSers club get-together. I know it was scharrison's idea, but I've rather taken to it. Perhaps I spent too many dinner hours at the Literary & Debating Society in Leeds Grammar School, but I think a face-to-face meeting would be super.
Don't you?
And by the way, I seem unable to reach you through the "Contact Allen Johnson" tab. It doesn't work.

Allen Johnson

October 21, 2009 - 6:49 pm EDT

Chris, sorry you've had trouble getting through.
As you may recall, I suggested we wait until after the election, when everyone's schedule will be less hectic (especially ours).
We're definitely going to do the meet-up. And details definitely will follow soon.
Thanks for your patience.

Christopher Rees

October 23, 2009 - 6:09 pm EDT

Great news. I shall look forward to it... and I'll be patient.

Allen Johnson

October 23, 2009 - 6:11 pm EDT

Many thanks. I appreciate all of the enthusiasm you've shown. I hope others feel likewise.

brian444

October 22, 2009 - 2:11 am EDT

Without knowing the difficulty or the politics of getting a commerative coin produced, I would still hazard a prediction that this will run into opposition, quite likely from other cities with claims to Civil Rights history (Montgomery, Birmingham, Atlanta come to mind immediately). More than once (in Birmingham, in particular), I've run into folks who dismiss the sit-ins as small potatoes within the broader project of the Civil Rights movement, and there's the liability of not having MLK involved ("How can we have a Civil Rights coin without MLK?").

This raises broader and more complex questions regarding the memoralization of Civil Rights. Mills Thornton's excellent book on the movement, for example, suggests that the King-centric narrative most American are familiar with is somewhat artificial and reductive (although compelling in its sweep and narrative economy); the "real story," he suggests, took place in hundreds of micropolitical environments where concrete, local changes were negotiated and put into practice. It will be interesting to see whether the sit-in coin raises these kinds of questions.

Allen Johnson

October 22, 2009 - 8:42 am EDT

I think it's a worthwhile discussion, Brian, one that could shed more light on local movements. That's what Greensboro essentially had, as did High Point and Durham, among many other places.

But I doubt that many will try to diminish the significance of the Greensboro Four. It is still extraordinary to think that four freshman students, one in his Air Force ROTC uniform, could be so principled and courageous. and nobody disputes the national movement Greensboro sparked.

brian444

October 22, 2009 - 2:21 pm EDT

Point granted, but I do think something crucial is lost when Civil Rights becomes predominately a matter of iconic events. This is not to say that iconography is unimportant--scenes on the Birmingham streets, in a Montgomery bus, at the lunch counter, and so forth--are powerful because they clarify history. At the same time, the on-the-streets backstory can get shortchanged as a result. As I pointed out at the time, I wish the efforts directed toward the Klan-CWP shootings had been directed toward the sit-ins instead, since the latter (and not the former) embodied and facilitated a movement of mass importance. I've had some interesting conversations with people who remember and reacted to (in one way or another) the sit-ins, both black and white, and that generation is dying out. I hope the museum will think about something like an oral history project that could flesh out what few people have any grasp of: how the community in its entirety reacted to the event. The N&R could help in that effort (along the lines of your HP black historian--can't recall his name--who did some excellent pieces on everyday black history).