Photos by Dennie Eagleson

Stories From Activists Who Fought to Desegregate Yellow Springs:
In 1961 Yellow Springs residents filed a lawsuit against local barber Lewis Gegner for his refusal to cut the hair of black townspeople and students. Gegner’s continued intransigence, and the consistent lack of action on the part of the Greene County Court of Appeals, led to years of litigation, protests, and sit-ins, culminating in the dramatic civil rights demonstration of 1964 that resulted in over 100 arrests and national media coverage. While Lewis Gegner ultimately closed his barbershop rather than desegregate his business, the demonstration and its aftermath marked the end of de facto segregation in Yellow Springs.

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