This report covers a New York gathering of leading civil rights figures—including Bayard Rustin, Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young, James Farmer, and John Lewis—where SNCC and CORE declined to endorse a proposed moratorium on demonstrations until after the upcoming November election, signaling a split over tactics between direct-action proponents and calls for strategic pause.
1947 Bayard Rustin’s Hotel Lobby Sit-In Challenging Northern Racial Discrimination
In 1947, Bayard Rustin staged a successful all-night sit-in protest in the lobby of the Hamline Hotel in St. Paul Minnesota, after being denied access to a reserved room due to his race. Joined by NAACP leaders and white allies, Rustin's non violence demonstration challenged segregationist practices in a Northern city and exemplified early direct action tactics that influence later civil rights protests.
