ROCK HILL, S.C. — Willie T. Massey, known to friends as Dub, a member of the Friendship Nine whose 1961 jail stint over a segregated lunch counter drew the nation’s eyes to Rock Hill, died Tuesday, Nov. 10, his family said.
Massey was one of nine young Black men, students at Friendship Junior College, who were convicted of trespassing in February 1961 after sitting down at the whites-only McCrory’s counter on Main Street downtown.
Offered a $100 fine or 30 days of hard labor, the group took the jail time. That choice, part of a refuse-bail tactic, put a spotlight on the movement and helped spark more protests across the country. The men worked hard labor during their month behind bars, and some time was spent in solitary confinement.
His death leaves his first cousin, David Williamson Jr., as the only living member of the group. Three members, Mack Workman, John Gaines and Thomas Gaither, all died in 2024. The other four, James Wells, Clarence Graham, Robert McCullough and Willie McLeod, had died before then.
Massey went on to earn degrees at two schools, Winthrop University here at home and Johnson C. Smith University across the state line. He spent decades teaching and counseling students in York County Schools, preached at churches around the area and served as a York County magistrate judge and a social worker.
In 2015, a court hearing in Rock Hill vacated the convictions of the Friendship Nine. The restaurant now on the old sit-in site on Main Street still carries the men’s names on its counter stools.
State Rep. John King of York County offered condolences to Massey’s family and called his life one of courage and sacrifice. Funeral plans had not been announced.
Filed under: Spartanburg SC Obituaries News
