Sina McGimpsey Reid ’65 was a key figure in the 1963 Tate Street boycott, a Civil Rights milestone for the UNCG community.
Led and carried out by Woman’s College (UNCG) students – and with the official support of the student government – students demanded the racial desegregation of three businesses located near the business section on Tate Street called “the corner.” A few dozen students picketed – and they were successful. By the end of 1963, all Tate Street businesses were integrated.
The Tate Street boycott had a number of student leaders. One was Sina, who went on to a career in business and counseling after graduation. She received the Alumni Distinguished Service Award in 1989, and she served on the UNCG Board of Trustees 1991-96, and also on the Excellence Foundation and Centennial Planning Board. In the late 1990s, she became the head of Personal Counseling at the Community College of Baltimore County, and her program was adopted by Loyola University where she helped supervise doctoral students in counseling.
In a recent interview, Sina reported that she and Harold, her husband of over 50 years, now live in Fort Mill, S.C. They volunteer for area churches delivering meals to housebound people – although they keep their long time membership at their Baltimore church. Recalling her participation in the boycotts, she says that she is still passionate about justice and human rights – and caring for people.
“It’s still about love and relationships, but now I’m flying under the radar,” she says, adding that it’s all about “compassion and empathetic understanding to the ‘other,’ for those who look like me and those who don’t look like me.”
By Lollie White ’80 MA, ’87 PhD
Photography by Martin W. Kane