 Rutledge Pearson, a local high school teacher, and the NAACP organized many students to participate in sit-ins.Rodney Hurst was the president at age 16 of the NAACP youth council and years later, said the students were determined to carry out the protests to gain rights of service in stores that gladly accepted .Pearson and members of the NAACP had met with the city's mayor to ask for his support in integration but were rejected.