Fearful that continued resistance to integration would tarnish the Greenville's image as well as limit economic opportunities, wealthy businessman Arthur MaGill and the Rev. John Haley of Westminster Presbyterian Church spearheaded the development of a Chamber of Commerce Biracial Committee.
The Committee was made up of an equal number of Blacks and Whites who attempted to work behind the scenes to ease racial tension and to facilitate desegregation. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregated lunch counters were unconstitutional, the city of Greenville revoked all segregation laws. The Committee targeted specific businesses for gradual integration.
Passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 legally ended segregation in public places. The Committee then focused their attention on jobs and the removal of Jim Crow signs.
