On July 7, one of the hottest days during the summer of 1948, John Bibbs, Leonard Hudson and Edna Griffin, along with her 1-year-old daughter, Phyllis, stopped at Katz Drug Store in downtown Des Moines, Iowa . Griffin ordered an ice cream soda, according to the University of Iowa’s Biographical Dictionary of Iowa. The group was refused service because the store was “not equipped to serve colored people.”
Griffin, Bibbs and Hudson, who were all active in the efforts to end discrimination against African-Americans and members of the Progressive Party of Iowa, did not take the incident lightly. According to Johnson, Griffin organized a boycott, conducted sit-ins and picketed in front of the store every Saturday for two months, which was located on the southeast corner of Seventh and Locust streets. Wanting to see change happen for everyone, the three filed charges against the store’s owner, Maurice Katz, in November of 1948 citing violation of the 1884 Iowa Civil Rights Act prohibiting discrimination in a public place.
The criminal trial drew statewide attention when Katz was found guilty by a jury and fined $50. The drug store owner filed an appeal but the conviction was upheld by the Iowa Supreme Court in December of 1949.