Edward R. Zane

Edward Zane, a high-ranking executive with Burlington Industries, was called upon by Greensboro’s leaders to mediate between students and businesses during the lunch counter sit-ins at Woolworth and, soon afterward, at Kress. He was praised for his fairness, but he made no secret that he believed segregation was wrong.

Zane was born in Arlington, Tenn., in 1899. He came to Greensboro in the 1920s and went to work for Burlington Industries as an accountant in 1929. He was a City Council member during the sit-ins, serving from 1957 until 1961. He had previously been mayor of the town of Hamilton Lakes, which merged with the city of Greensboro in 1957.

He was chairman of the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Community Relations. He also was chairman of the board of trustees for L. Richardson Memorial Hospital, which served the city’s black community, and was president of the N.C. A&T Foundation.

Zane died in 1991 at age 91.