In this silent WSB newsfilm clip from Atlanta, Georgia on July 18,1962 African American students protest segregation outside Leb's Restaurant during an open house celebrating the restaurant's thirteen years in business. The clip begins by focusing on a man holding the full-page newspaper advertisement for the open house at Leb's restaurant. According to the Atlanta Journal, the advertisement invited "come one, come all" to the anniversary celebration. Next Charles Lebedin, the restaurant's owner, speaks to a younger white man as customers walk through the doorway; seen through the doorway, a young African American woman works inside the restaurant. Later two African American women and an African American man cross the street, walking away from the restaurant, and the camera focuses on the restaurant's sign showing bunting hanging below. The camera again focuses on the restaurant's doorway where Lebedin and the younger man seen earlier greet customers. Former Georgia governor Marvin Griffin comes to the restaurant and appears to encourage Lebedin; the image in this section is slightly washed out and hard to see. After this, Lebedin stands outside the restaurant speaking to James Foreman, executive secretary of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Foreman also speaks to an African American woman who stands outside the restaurant with him. Across the street white people watch the exchange before the camera again focuses on the restaurant's sign. An African American woman stands below the sign but she is obscured in the darkness. James Foreman holds the newspaper advertisement seen earlier and the camera briefly focuses on the "Leb's" sign before more white patrons are seen walking through the restaurant's door.

African American students working with the Committee on Appeal for Human Rights (COAHR) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) began protesting segregated lunch counters in March 1960. Although the groups were not running any organized campaign against Atlanta segregation during the summer of 1962, a small group of African Americans stood outside Leb's for three hours protesting the deceptive "come one, come all" open house advertisement. Charles Lebedin protested that he would integrate when other downtown restaurants did and did not thing it fair to make him a "guinea pig." Thirty-five downtown restaurants agreed to desegregate in June 1963 after two months of sit-ins and protests although many resegregated by the end of the year. Leb's Restaurant, like many other Atlanta restaurants, integrated in 1964 following the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act which required businesses to desegregate.

Title supplied by cataloger.

The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for digital conversion and description of the WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection.

1 clip (about 2 min.): black-and-white, silent ; 16 mm.

Original found in the WSB-TV newsfilm collection.

WSB-TV newsfilm clip of African American students protest segregation outside of an anniversary open house at Leb's Restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia, 1962 July 18, WSB-TV newsfilm collection, reel 0993, 26:18/28:03, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Ga, as presented in the Digital Library of Georgia.

Forms part of: Civil Rights Digital Library.