<Tr> <Td> Phil Hutchings </Td> <Td> 1968--69 </Td> </Tr> <P> Founded in 1960 and inspired by the Greensboro sit - ins and Nashville sit - ins, independent student - led groups began direct - action protests against segregation in dozens of southern communities . SNCC focused on mobilizing local communities, a policy in which African American communities would push for change, impelling the federal government to act once the injustice had become apparent . The most common action of these groups was organizing sit - ins at racially segregated lunch counters to protest the pervasiveness of Jim Crow and other forms of racism . While in the Civil Rights Cases (109 U.S. 3 (1883)), the Court ruled that the equal protection clause "did not cover private individuals, organizations, or establishments," the trials of arrested sit - in protesters created an opening for the Court to reevaluate its earlier ruling and expand the clause to cover acts of private discrimination . The sit - in movement was a turning point in using the courts and jail to exert moral and economic pressure on southern communities . In addition to sitting in at lunch counters, the groups also organized and carried out protests at segregated White public libraries, public parks, public swimming pools, and movie theaters . At that time, all those facilities financed by taxes were closed to blacks . The white response was often to close the facility, rather than integrate it . </P> <P> The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), as an organization, began with an $800.00 grant from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) for a conference attended by 126 student delegates from 58 sit - in centers in 12 states, along with delegates from 19 northern colleges, the SCLC, Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), National Student Association (NSA), and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). Out of this conference the SNCC was formed . </P> <P> Ella Baker, who organized the Shaw conference, was the SCLC director at the time she helped form SNCC . But SNCC was not a branch of SCLC . Instead of being closely tied to SCLC or the NAACP as a "youth division", SNCC sought to stand on its own . Ms. Baker later lost her job with SCLC, which she had helped found . </P>

What type of protest did the sncc do