Joseph McNeil, Member of 'Greensboro Four' Who Protested Segregation at Lunch Counters, Dies at 83

Joseph McNeil, Member of 'Greensboro Four' Who Protested Segregation at Lunch Counters, Dies at 83

McNeil and three other Black freshmen held a famous sit-in at Woolworth’s in 1960, which inspired peaceful protests across the country

Services for 'Greensboro Four' activist Joseph McNeil set

McNeil, of Hempstead, sat at a segregated lunch counter in defiance of the Jim Crow South as one of the "Greensboro Four" in 1960.

Joseph McNeil, Greensboro Civil Rights Pioneer Who Sparked Sit-In Movement, Passes Away at 83

Joseph McNeil, one of the four college freshmen whose bold decision to sit at a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, ignited a nationwide movement that fundamentally changed the trajectory of the civil rights struggle, died Thursday at a hospice in Port Jefferson, New York. He was 83. His wife, Ina McNeil, confirmed his death was due to Parkinson’s disease. With McNeil’s passing, only one member of the legendary “Greensboro Fo…

The Death of a Legend: What Joseph McNeil’s Legacy Means to N.C. A&T Students | The A&T Register

Joseph McNeil, a member of the Greensboro Four, whose courageous sit-in at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in 1960 helped spark a nationwide movement for civil rights. (Courtesy of Google) On Sept. 4, 2025, the nation lost a civil rights icon, Maj. Gen. Joseph McNeil, one of the legendary Greensboro Four, died at age 83. His legacy is inseparable from the spirit of A&T, where as a freshman in 1960 he courageously sat at a whites-only Woolworth’s lun…