The District Goes Radical in the 1960s
Mel's drive-in Protests
Demonstration at Mel's Drive-In in San Francisco in 1963 to protest their failure to hire blacks. (Video clip from Harvey Richards' "Decision in the Streets" 1965)
The protest against Mel’s marked a turning point in the Civil Rights movement in the Bay Area. It was the first mass sit-in of the Bay Area Civil Rights Movement. Mel’s co-owner Harold Dobbs, who lost a close race for mayor of San Francisco during the protests, gave in under the pressure and signed an agreement to hire blacks in up-front positions.