page_title: Franklin McCain
section_title: Later life and death
hierarchical_section_title: Franklin McCain / Later life and death
caption_attribution_description: English: Front view of the A&amp;T Four Statue along with the Dudley building in the background
context_page_description: Franklin Eugene McCain was an American civil rights activist and member of the Greensboro Four. McCain, along with fellow North Carolina A&T State University students Ezell Blair Jr., Joseph McNeil and David Richmond, staged a sit-in protest at the Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, on February 1, 1960 after they were refused service due to the color of their skin. Their actions were credited with launching the Greensboro sit-ins, a massive protest across state lines involving mostly students who took a stand against discrimination in restaurants and stores by refusing to leave when service was denied to them. The sit-ins successfully brought about the reversal of Woolworth's policy of racial segregation in their southern stores, and increased national sentiment to the fight of African-Americans in the south.
context_section_description: After graduating from North Carolina A&T, McCain moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he worked at the Celanese Corporation, a chemical manufacturer, where he built upon his career for 35 years. McCain also served as a member of the boards of trustees for both North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central Universities; as well as the Board of Visitors of Bennett College; and the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina. McCain was also known for meeting with local Charlotte teenagers and encouraging them to stay in school.
  On January 9, 2014, McCain died from respiratory complications at Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital in Greensboro, North Carolina, six days after his 73rd birthday. McCain's death left Ezell Blair (now Jibreel Khazan) and Joseph McNeil as the two surviving members of the Greensboro Four. David Richmond, the fourth member and McCain's freshman college roommate, died in 1990.
  Shortly before his death, McCain was interviewed by his granddaughter who asked him to define freedom. McCain responded simply that he sees freedom as being able to “be oneself in society at large.”
caption: The A&T Four Statue by James Barnhill on the campus of North Carolina A&T. (From Left: David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair, and Joseph McNeil
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