Esther Terry

When the Civil Rights Movement began to gain traction throughout the south, much of the credit for its success rightly went to the college students from the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Well-trained and educated, these young men and women were some of the first to take bold action in the fight for desegregation. Dr. Esther Terry, past provost of the all-girls Bennett College in Greensboro, N.C., was a young student at the school in 1960 when she participated in the sit-in at a Woolworth lunch counter. Here, she explains why “Bennett Ladies” were motivated to participate.