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One of the original four taking part
in the Woolworth sit-ins. A Wilmington native, he graduated from
Williston Senior High School. Soon after high school, his parents
moved the family to New York, where he was able to experience
a much more open society. Joe came to NC A&T on full scholarship,
and found it hard to live in the segregated South. His roommate
at Scott Hall on the A&T campus was another sit-in participant,
Ezell Blair Jr. Joe's breaking point came after Christmas vacation,
when he returned by bus from New York, and was not served a hot
dog at the Greensboro Greyhound terminal. McNeil earned a degree
in engineering physics from North Carolina A&T State University
in 1963. Thirty minutes after graduating, Joe McNeil was commissioned
by the U. S. Air Force and spent six years as an officer and
attained the rank of captain. He recently retired from Air Force
Reserves, having achieved the rank of Major General. During his
tenure in the Air Force, he started a series of diversity programs,
which profoundly changed the culture of that institution. He
worked in computer sales for IBM, as a commercial banker for
Bankers Trust in New York City, and as a stock broker for E.F.
Hutton in Fayetteville. He now resides in Hempstead, N.Y. He
is married to the former Ina Brown, and they have five children. |
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