GREENSBORO, N.C. — After more than 60 years, two former Woolworth employees reunited for the first time since the historic Greensboro sit-ins.

What You Need To Know

  • More than 60 years ago, four North Carolina A&T students made history when they asked to be served at the segregated Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro

  • Charles Bess and William Tyson Sr. both worked at Woolworth the same year

  • They saw each other Friday for the first time in more than 60 years

Charles Bess worked as a busboy and William Tyson Sr. as a dishwaher in 1960, during the nonviolent protests against segregation.

The pair lost contact when Bess began working at a local factory, and Tyson was drafted to the military.

This year Tyson enlisted the help of his daughter to contact Bess.

“It’s a special occasion because we really had some challenging times here, and we have been talking on the telephone, and we have so many memories that we had here. So, it’s really amazing that we’ve been able to sit down and just talk to each other,” Tyson said.

They reunited Friday at the historic location that is now the International Civil Rights Museum.

Bess said now that they have reconnected they plan to talk more often.

“It’s been about 64 years since we seen each other, and now we are joined together,” he said.

The sit-ins in North Carolina were a major spark in the civil rights movement around the country.

The students sat down Feb. 1, 1960, and the Woolworth lunch counter was desegregated months later on July 25.