The struggle of black Americans for equality reached its peak in
the mid-1960s. After progressive victories in the 1950s, blacks
became even more committed to nonviolent direct action. Groups
like the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), made
up of black clergy, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee (SNCC), composed of younger activists, sought reform
through peaceful confrontation. In 1960 black college students
sat down at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in North
Carolina and refused to leave. Their sit-in captured media
attention and led to similar demonstrations throughout the
South. The next year, civil rights workers organized "freedom
rides," in which blacks and whites boarded buses heading South
toward segregated terminals, where confrontations might capture
media attention and lead to change. They also organized rallies,
the largest of which was the "March on Washington" in 1963. More
than 200,000 people gathered in the nation's capital to
demonstrate their commitment t