RALEIGH — Hundreds of students and former civil rights activists filled the First Baptist Church in downtown Raleigh on Saturday to hear U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder pay tribute to student civil rights leaders of the 1960s.
Holder, the first African-American ever to hold the post, was the keynote speaker for a conference at Shaw University commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee’s founding.
Established at Shaw in 1960, SNCC emerged from the student sit-ins in Greensboro and advocated for the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
Founding: SNCC was established at Shaw University in Raleigh in 1960 following the student sit-ins in Greensboro.
Priorities: Student activists protested segregation and racial discrimination through sit-ins and freedom rides, conducted voter registration campaigns throughout the South and participated in the 1963 March on Washington, D.C.
Notable Former Members: U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, former NAACP Chairman Julian Bond
