March 1, 1964: Sheraton-Palace Hotel Protests

On March 1, 1964, nearly a thousand people took to the streets outside of the Sheraton-Palace Hotel in San Francisco to protest the hotel’s unfair hiring practices, which permitted Black people and people of color only the most menial of jobs. Carl Nolte writes that, “Black people could be maids or bellhops but were not hired to staff the front desk.”

Nolte continues,

Police picking out demonstrators from the lobby of the Sheraton-Palace Hotel, March 7, 1964. Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library. Source: FoundSF

The pickets sat down on the sidewalk and more than 90 were arrested, including Dr. Thomas N. Burbridge, president of the local NAACP, Terry Francois, a former president of the chapter, and Dick Gregory, the noted comedian. A few days later, the protests started again — this time with a sit-in in the Palace’s lobby. They sang “We Shall Overcome” and “America the Beautiful.” They linked arms and refused to move. The police dragged them out, one by one.

The protests, which continued through mid-March, were orchestrated by the Ad Hoc Committee to End Discrimination, which was chaired by 18-year-old Tracy Sims, in collaboration with local civil rights organizations. Hundreds more protestors were arrested before the Hotel Employers Association of San Francisco, which represented the Sheraton-Palace Hotel and all major hotels in San Francisco, signed a pact that allowed for the hiring of Black people and people of color in more meaningful positions.

Protest leaders (l-r) Mike Myerson, Tracy Sims, Roy Ballard, and Dick Gregory make an announcement. Photo ran Sunday, March 8, 1964, Page A1, Art Frisch/The San Francisco Chronicle. Source: SFGate

As SFSU’s Bay Area Social Justice History Project notes, “The Palace sit-ins resulted in hundreds of arrests and, after several negotiations between civil rights leaders and hotel management, a signed pact guaranteeing the employment of a substantial number of minority workers in a variety of positions.”

Additional Resources

Sheraton-Palace Hotel Protests (San Francisco State University’s Bay Area Social Justice History Project)

S.F. Palace Hotel Sit-in Helped Start Revolution 50 Years Ago by Carl Nolte (SFGate)

Tracy Sims and the 1964 Civil Rights Protests by Stephen Vincent (FoundSF: The San Francisco Digital History Archive)