Public viewing held for Major General Joseph McNeil in Wilmington
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Civil rights activist Major General Joseph McNeil will be laid to rest Saturday in Wilmington.
On Friday, hundreds of people gathered for McNeil’s public viewing.
The Wilmington native graduated from Williston Senior High School in 1959.
On February 1st, 1960, he and 3 other students from North Carolina A&T State University began a sit-in protest at a whites-only counter at a Woolworth’s department store in Greensboro.
The Greensboro Four stayed there until the store closed, returning the next day to do it again, inspiring more protests during the civil rights movement.
McNeil later spent more than 35 years in the Air Force and Air Force Reserve.
Chris Pinket attended Friday’s viewing at Davis Funeral Home.
He knew McNeil for about four decades and said McNeil made a big impact on his life.
“He showed people how to stand up for their rights and he also supported people to go for their dreams,” Pinket said. “I was a private investigator; did security; had a clothing business. He supported all of my businesses. He advised me how to business — and my friends. He was just a great mentor.”
If you would like to show your respects to McNeil’s family, the public is encouraged to stand along Major General Joseph McNeil Commemorative Way from Market Street, passing the 1898 Memorial and onto MLK Parkway, Saturday between noon and 12:30 pm.
