February 7, 1961:
NAACP president for Rock Hill, Reverence Cecil Ivory, held a meeting where 300 people of York County came together to hear from Civil Rights speakers. The speakers were SNCC founder Ella Baker, CORE field secretary James T. McCain, and US National Student Association activist Connie Curry, who was white.
Because of this meeting, Ivory rallied hundreds to visit the Prison Farm that weekend in a motorcade and protest the arrest and conviction of the Friendship 9; most of these people that joined were in support of the SNCC.
February 12, 1961:
The weekend that the motorcade of people of all ages from SNCC went to the Prison Farm,
a large representation from the NAACP also joined them. They showed their support for the young men, but also wanted to honor them for their efforts by not remaining quiet. Ivory wanted to show them their support, but also try to get as much press coverage as possible in order to raise even more awareness.
