User:Petecomm/Joseph Peterson

Joseph Peterson, (born January 1936) is an American businessman and activist in the African American civil rights movement. On Feb. 25, 1960, he and eight other Alabama State University students staged a sit-in to challenge segregated dining facilities at the Montgomery County Courthouse in 1960. The then all-white State Board of Educa­tion unanimously approved a resolution calling for the expul­sion of the nine students. Peterson went on to earn a degree in business administration from New York University in 1964. During ASU's 2010 spring commencement exercises the nine were honored with degrees for their efforts 50 years ago.