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# Virginia Union students reenact 1960 lunch counter protest in new docudrama
- URL: https://www.richmonder.org/virginia-union-students-reenact-1960-lunch-counter-protest-in-new-docudrama/
- Published: 2026-08-25T20:16:24.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-25T20:16:24.000Z
- Description: “Their story brings home the fact that courage is often necessary in order to achieve the freedom and justice that all deserve.”
- Author: Tim Wenzell
- Tags: Local News, #the-bridge

This Sunday, the Virginia Museum of History and Culture will screen a new docudrama that aims to preserve the memory of one of Richmond's most important Civil Rights Era moments.

“Richmond 34: The Silent Victory” will screen at the Museum of History and Culture. It was written and directed by Linnard “LK” Harris, Sr.

On February 22, 1960, 34 Virginia Union University students were arrested during a peaceful sit-in at the segregated "whites-only" lunch counter inside Thalhimers department store. In all, around 200 students marched from campus to Broad Street to challenge discriminatory business practices. The U.S. Supreme Court later overturned their convictions, paving the way for local integration.

Harris said he consulted with living members of the Richmond 34 during production. A large part of the film re-imagines the scenes through actors Harris and his production team auditioned over the last year, with sessions taking place in Virginia Union University's Writing Center last fall. 

A sneak preview was presented at the Black History Museum in July. Sunday's screening is [sold out](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/richmond-34-the-silent-victory-grand-premiere-tickets-1991740898644), but organizers hope to offer more showings around town in the future.

The film offers a unique look at how the students trained for the protect. 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. visited VUU’s campus in January 1960, emphasizing the power of non-violent resistance and the importance of training for potentially violent confrontations

“People can’t Google those training scenes,” Harris said.

He admitted that it was “a tall task” to replicate how those students trained, the march down Broad Street, and the actual sit-in, which included the student actors slapping and kicking each other and throwing each other down. 

“They had to train on how not to react,” Harris said. 

As executive producer and writer of the film, Harris has blended interviews with both historians and several members of the Richmond 34, including Elizabeth Johnson Rice, who told Harris, “If we had not gotten arrested, things might not have changed.” 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/06/99067822-fdfd-42b1-ab19-555c33eefb89/content/images/2026/08/linnard_harris.jpg)

Linnard “LK” Harris, Sr.

To replicate the dramatic scenes, Harris supplemented the film with artificial intelligence.

“At certain points on the march down Broad, over 200 people protested. We only had 20 to 30 people, so A.I. was necessary to understand the large turnout,” he said.

Harris noted that one of the audience members at the Black History Museum screening last month was emotionally impacted by the A.I. crowd scenes.

The sit-in on February 22, 1960, was significant not just for Virginia Union and Richmond, but for the country as well. 

Dr. Raymond P. Hylton, Distinguished Professor of History at VUU and co-author of "The Richmond 34 and the Civil Rights Movement" (along with Dr. Kimberly A. Matthews) notes its significance because it took place in the former capital of the Confederacy, a place filled with monuments to the Lost Cause. 

“It also marked the first mass arrest of the sit-in movement and was certainly one of the key events that eventually led to dismantling legalized racial segregation, not only in Virginia, but on the national level,” he said.

Indeed, the Richmond 34 took their case all the way to the Supreme Court and won in 1963\. However, their arrest records were not expunged until 2019, 59 years later. 

Harris noted that one member of the Richmond 34 told him she “lost a lot,” along with her family. Her father in particular was hurt by her arrest. “He owned a business and lost 90% of his clientele.” 

Hylton said the story remains relevant today: “The Richmond 34 event illustrates that liberties and rights are never a given. Sometimes they need to be insisted upon and fought for. The 34 students had no guarantee that their protest would have the effect that it had, or that it would necessarily result in triumph. Their story brings home the fact that courage is often necessary in order to achieve the freedom and justice that all deserve.”