President Truman desegregates the armed forces. Carver Museum Photo Emerson Harvey was the first African American to play football at Arizona State University. 1950 Attorney H. B. Daniels and city employee Carl Sims are the first Blacks elected to the legislature by Phoenix's predominately black communities. 1951 Phoenix Council for Civic Unity, led by Lincoln Ragsdale, organizes a sit-in at Walgreen's lunch counter. Walgreen's agrees to open its lunch counter.
Policy permits blacks in the coffee shop.
Only black men in military uniform are permitted in the dining area. City council leaves policy unchanged. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Fred C. Strickmeyer ends segregation in the Phoenix Union High School District. Four African American high school girls transfer to Phoenix Union High School. Mrs. Harry Liehaber complains to the newspaper when the Palm Theater refuses entry to three black children among a group from the Maricopa County Juvenile Home, guests on an outing sponsored by Liehaber's women's organization.