The year 1960 was a turning point in the civil rights movement as young Black women and men became peaceful warriors for change. In February, four Black college students, known as the Greensboro Four, were refused service at a lunch counter in North Carolina. The sit-in they carried out in response inspired protests across the country, demonstrating the ideals of civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance. In November, as the year drew to a close, the nation’s eyes were on Ruby Bridges, a Black first grader who bravely integrated William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. Desegregation would create a crisis of law and order throughout the South as the decade continued. This detailed account explains why 1960 was such a critical year in the civil rights movement.