Carol Parks Hahn passed away April 15, at age 83.
Carol was a great mother, former municipal employee, community volunteer and supporter of her church. However, she gained greater recognition and appreciation as a participant in Wichita’s 1958 Dockum Drug Store Sit-in.
Through the local NAACP Youth Council, Hahn and her cousin Ron Walters helped lead a group of high school and University of Wichita students in a protest of Dockum’s discriminatory dining policy.
For 24 days in the summer of 1958, the activists worked in shifts sitting at the counter of the drug store. Their peaceful but courageous protest achieved its goal by Aug. 11 when the Dockum lunch counter and all Rexall Drug Stores across Kansas lifted segregated service.
It was the first successful student-led sit-in of the Civil Rights Movement.
Hahn was educated at St. Peter Claver and Cathedral grade schools and at St. Mary’s Inter-Parochial High School in Wichita. She received her bachelor of business administration and master of arts in communications degrees from Wichita State University.
Carol had a successful career in municipal government as an employment specialist. She held offices in the Wichita Adult Branch and Wichita Youth Council Branch of the NAACP.and was a proud member of Beta Kappa Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.
Carol is survived by her three sons: Miles Hahn, Herbert Hahn, and Paul Hahn. She also leaves behind her loving sister, Judy Peterson.