50 years ago, children helped change nation when they sat down

There was Gwendolyn Fuller Mukes, a lifelong educator who lives in Wichita, Kan., and Lana Pogue, 6, the youngest of the original protesters. In a rare photo of the sit-in in its early days, The Oklahoman captured a photograph of the child, barely tall enough to reach the lunch counter, at which she protested. And there was Lana's sister, Linda Pogue, and Betty Germany, who is a retired librarian from Ralph Ellison Library in Oklahoma City.

Protester 14 was Goldie Battle Watkins, 17. She rode downtown with the others but never went inside. Her mother was fearful of her participating, and Goldie was fearful of her mother's wrath. But she worked the rest of the week answering the phone at Clara Luper's residence and handling correspondence for the protesters.

Eventually, her mother allowed her to participate. She graduated from Howard University in Washington, D.C., and received a master's degree in public health from Yale University.