Angie Brooks, her nephew, and Allard Lowenstein

On April 30, 1963, Angie Brooks, with her nephew, who was a student at St. Augustine’s at that time1, and Allard Lowenstein attempted to have lunch together at two restaurants in downtown Raleigh but were denied service because Brooks was African.

Brooks, Liberia’s United Nations ambassador and a Shaw University graduate, was in Raleigh to deliver a speech at NC State University.

After the speech, Allard Lowenstein, then a professor at the university, invited the ambassador to lunch.

The pair, with a few students in tow, visited the S & W Cafeteria and Sir Walter Coffee Shop in downtown Raleigh.
Despite her diplomatic credentials, Brooks was refused service at both establishments.

The manager of Sir Walter Coffee Shop, Arthur Buddenhagen, approached the group and asked Brooks, “Are you looking for a job?”

To which she replied, “No, I’m looking for a place to eat.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t serve you,” Buddenhagen said. “It is a rule and a reasonable rule.”

As they exited the restaurant Brooks handed Buddenhagen her business card and told him, “If you are ever in my country, you can be my guest.”

The press was on hand to report the story. The incident brought national attention to North Carolina, and Governor Terry Sanford issued an apology to Brooks on behalf of North Carolina.

Since Lowenstein chose restaurants that were frequented by state officials, many believed he was an agitator who wanted to stir up controversy.

Although he was aware that the establishments were segregated, he denied staging the event.
They ended up eating sandwiches at the downtown bus terminal, the only integrated restaurant in the capital city.2
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Image and narrative source:
NO.5-1-1963
From the N&O negative collection, State Archives of North Carolina. Photo copyrighted by the News and Observer.
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Source of some information, 1, 2:
https://news.ncsu.edu/2020/01/a-century-of-readership/