Twice-arrested Aggie alumnus and unsung hero Evander “Van” Gilmer, reflected on his role in desegregating Greensboro after the 1960 Feb. 1 sit-in.
N.C. A&T annually honors the historic 1960 sit-in at the segregated Woolworth lunch counter, started by the A&T Four. Gilmer mentions how Feb. 1 was only the beginning of Greensboro protests with students from A&T, Bennet College and Dudley High School participating in the fight for change.
"The sit-ins, were an opener because a lot of things had happened [after],” Gilmer said. “The movement became more than just Greensboro.”
Gilmer was born and raised in Greensboro, N.C., and was a senior at Dudley High School when the sit-in at the Woolworth lunch counter took place. For him, growing up in segregated Greensboro was simply a way of life.
“I grew up knowing that if I went to the train station, I didn't go in the front," Gilmer said. "I learned it as a child, so nobody had to tell you because it was the way of life.”
He was shocked to learn that Ezell Blair Jr. and David Richmond, who also grew up in Greensboro, were part of the A&T Four.
Gilmer began attending A&T in the Fall of 1960 as an engineering student. During this time, he began participating in protests.
Gilmer and other participants would meet at the YMCA & Shiloh Baptist Church with the President of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) to plan demonstrations.
“My parents did not want me to do it [protest] but I would leave the house with a toothbrush," Gilmer said. "and with things I needed because I knew I would be detained.”
He was arrested twice.
With the influx of participants, Greensboro did not have enough space in police stations for protestors. The city used the Central Carolina Convalescent Hospital, previously used to treat Polio, as a makeshift jail.
Participating in demonstrations took time away from Gilmer’s education, causing him to graduate later than expected. A&T faculty and professors largely opposed students participating in the protests. Gilmer highlighted Brandon, a student teacher, and minister Tony Stanley, who were only a few years older but played a key role in helping students get involved.
After graduation, Gilmer worked in architectural management with the U.S. Navy in Maryland.
“All of us who were arrested, at least in the beginning, were mug shot and fingerprinted," Gilmer said. "This came back to haunt me about 10 years after when I was an engineer for the Navy Department... and I was a booked with top secret clearance.”
While the charge was removed from his criminal record, Gilmer questions how many other protesters were denied jobs due to their 1960s activism.
After retiring from his architectural job in 2004, Gilmer is now the Director of Music at the Bahá'í House of Worship. He began playing piano at 7 and continued his love for music at A&T.
Gilmer was the student director and soloist for the choir, he played the oboe in the orchestra and the clarinet in the marching band.