Honoring Major General Joseph McNeil
Honoring the life and legacy of civil rights activist Major General Joseph McNeil
Governor Roy Cooper ordered all United States and North Carolina flags at state facilities to be lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Tuesday, September 9, 2025, in honor of civil rights activist and retired U.S. Air Force Major General Joseph McNeil. McNeil was one of the Greensboro Four, a group of Black college students who staged a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro in 1960, sparking a national movement. He also served a distinguished career in the U.S. Air Force, retiring as a Major General.
