Patricia Stephens Due, Ph.D. (1939-2012) and her older sister Priscilla Stephens Kruize are Civil Rights leaders and “Freedom Fighters.” Trained by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), in 1960 the Florida A&M University students organized Tallahassee’s first lunch counter “sit-in” demonstration. They and nine other individuals were arrested. The Sisters and six other students chose “jail over bail” and spent 49 days in the Leon County Jail – staging the nation’s first student-led “jail-in” protest. With support from student “foot soldiers,” local communities and CORE, the Sisters challenged racial segregation throughout Florida by helping plan nonviolent campaigns. Their actions bear witness to the important role the Student Movement played in the fight for civil and equal rights in America.
