North Carolina
Meet the New Jersey woman who was pivotal to North Carolina sit-ins during the Civil Rights Movement
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The sit-ins of the South became a pivotal part of civil rights history, and in 1960, a North Carolina college student from the Philadelphia area took a stand by being one of the first to sit down at a whites-only lunch counter.
Nancy Kirby’s story begins in Haddonfield, New Jersey, where she grew up and graduated from high school at age 16. She was planning to stay local for college by attending the University of Pennsylvania or Temple University – two schools Kirby said offered her full scholarships. Her mother, however, insisted she go away and attend an HBCU.
“She wanted me to have an experience where I was not in the minority,” Kirby said.
Kirby decided on Bennett College, a historically Black college for women in Greensboro, North Carolina. It was her first time in the segregated South, and when she arrived there in the late 1950s, the Civil Rights Movement was starting to catch on.
Kirby said her mother warned her against participating in the movement, fearing it would jeopardize her ability to graduate.
The sit-in demonstrations were a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement when Black people sat down at whites-only lunch counters. The first to do it are known as the “Greensboro Four,” four North Carolina Agriculture and Technical State University students who took a stand by sitting down at the Woolworth lunch counter. They sparked an evolution, and their story has been told by many over the last 60 years. There’s even a statue of the four men on North Carolina A&T’s campus, but it turns out there’s more to the story.
Decades after the sit-ins, Linda Beatrice Brown wrote a book titled “Belles of Liberty” to set the record straight.
“They didn’t come up with this idea by themselves at all, and I got tired of hearing that story be told the wrong way. The Bennett women deserve a whole lot more credit than they get,” said Brown, a Bennett alum who knows firsthand about the planning and organizing that happened before that first sit-in on Feb. 1, 1960.
“This was not just true of Greensboro, but true of the whole Civil Rights Movement: Women didn’t get the credit they should have in terms of being the movers and shakers of this movement,” Brown said.
At 20 years old and 450 miles from home, Kirby was one of those movers and shakers.
“My mother called again and said ‘do not get involved in that.’ By this time, I had already been arrested,” Kirby said.
Despite her participation in the sit-ins, Kirby graduated from Bennett College in 1960. With the exception of those four years in college, Nancy Kirby has lived in the Philadelphia area her whole life. She spent the majority of her career working at Bryn Mawr College.
Only in recent years have she and other women been recognized for their role in the movement that changed the course of history.
Warmer temperatures are bringing North Carolina’s ski season to a close, with several mountain resorts announcing closing dates. Beech Mountain will close after its annual Pond Skim on March 14, while Appalachian Ski Mountain plans to stay open through March 15 for its Meltdown Games.
Web Editor : Mark Bergin
Reporter : Eric Miller
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North Carolina
Stein announces $40 million in recovery, mitigation grants for Western North Carolina
MARION, N.C. (WTVD) — Gov. Josh Stein on Friday announced more than $24 million in mitigation grants and another $16 million for volunteer rebuilding organizations during a Western North Carolina Recovery meeting in Marion.
The funding supports longterm recovery from Hurricane Helene and is intended to help communities better withstand future natural disasters.
State officials said the mitigation grants will help local governments upgrade wastewater and water infrastructure, strengthen transportation systems, relocate facilities out of flood-prone areas, expand flood warning networks and develop shovel ready recovery projects. Nonprofit groups aiding families with home repairs and reconstruction will receive the volunteer-based grants.
“Western North Carolina is coming back strong from Hurricane Helene,” Stein said, adding that recovery requires cooperation among government, private and nonprofit partners.
North Carolina Emergency Management Director Will Ray said the grants reflect a “wholeofcommunity effort” to reduce risk and help towns rebuild stronger.
Over two dozen communities and organizations – including Conover, Hendersonville, Clyde, Marion, Black Mountain, Banner Elk and multiple county agencies – will receive funding for projects ranging from flood gauge installations to dam restoration and wastewater improvements.
WATCH | Hurricane Helene: One Year Later: WNC leans into its resilience, faith and hope
Hurricane Helene: One Year Later (1 of 26)
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ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Gas prices are hitting the highest level since September 2024, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).
On Friday, March 6, western North Carolina drivers were already experiencing shock at the pump.
News 13 caught up with some drivers at a gas station in Henderson County, where the price per gallon was just a penny under $3, sitting at $2.99.
This comes as Tuesday marked the largest single-day jump at the pump since March 2022, according to ABC News, citing Gas Buddy sources.
REPORT: ASHEVILLE GAS PRICES RISE, MORE INCREASES EXPECTED AMID WAR IN MIDDLE EAST
Drivers we spoke with say they’re feeling the fuel costs climb and needless to say, they’re not too pleased.
“Here, it’s the first time I’m seeing the price that high,” said driver and Hendersonville resident Ricardo Martineati. “We don’t understand why the price is going up, but it is what it is. I hope it comes back to what it used to be pretty soon.”
MARCH 6, 2026 – A gas station in western North Carolina. (Photo credit: WLOS Staff)
Part of the reason for the gas price change is that crude prices surged 35% this week as Iran threatens the Strait of Hormuz, which is a critical route many oil producers use to get oil to market, ABC News reports.
Martineati knows it’s not much, but he says he’s got a strategy to save.
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“Just try to slow down on the takeoff, on the coming to a stop to save some fuel, but that’s it,” Martineati said.
And with all this price pressure, he added that he’s picking a positive perspective.
“At least I’m not driving a diesel-fueled truck,” Martineati said.
While WNC hovers around $3 a gallon, depending on your location, the state is still below the national average of $3.30 a gallon, according to AAA.
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