When four college freshmen walked into a Greensboro, N.C., dime store on Monday, Jan. 1 1960, bought a few items, then sat down at the "whites only" lunch counter, they sparked a wave of civil rights protest that changed America.

To commemorate the events, struggles and achievements of the Civil Rights Movement, the Woolworth building in Greensboro, North Carolina was turned into a museum by founders Melvin Alston, a Guilford County commissioner, and Representative Earl Jones of the North Carolina legislature.

The center boasts 30,000 square feet of exhibition space with items that marked the historic sit-ins and demonstrations against racial segregation of the sixties. In this Jan. 7, 2010 photo, a historical marker is shown in front of the former F.W. Woolworth store at the new International Civil Rights Center and Museum in Greensboro, N.C.

(AP Photo/Chuck Burton)