July 27, 1961 - A total of 159 Negroes dined at 36 previously all-white restaurants and cafeterias in Dallas today. The Dallas Citizens Council, which helped arrange the integration step, said that only four telephone calls of protest had been received. The eating places that were integrated reported three complaints from white customers. The city has a population of 850,000, of which about one-fifth are Negroes. A. Mayfield Smith, a Negro leader, said: "The experience was a very happy one and without anxiety for those who took part. We were served with extreme courtesy." Houston, about 250 miles from Dallas, integrated eating facilities at most of its department stores last August without incident.
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