February 12, 1961
College students in San Antonio organized a stand-in at the downtown Majestic, then a movie theater. Theaters typically admitted blacks through a “colored” entrance and required them to sit in the balcony. Twenty- five white and Hispanic students paired with black students who would attempt to buy tickets at the main entrance. When the blacks were refused admittance into the theater, the pair would move to the end of the line and start the process again. This non-violent protest tied up the lines at the theater for three hours. The protest caused no arrest and no change in policy had occurred that day. Similar stand-ins also occurred in March, June, and July. Mixed groups of blacks and whites were allowed to buy tickets and sit anywhere in the theater in December of 1961. The other twenty-seven theaters of San Antonio soon followed the Majestic.
