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Before they painted the mural, the artists consulted with Elizabeth Johnson Rice, a Richmond native who has been the keeper of the Richmond 34 flame, and Elizabeth Thalhimer Smartt, whose father's family managed the Thalhimers chain for 150 years.
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Although many of these great Southern department stores have left us, we still have the memories that will live on well past after the doors have closed.
61 years after their sit-in, members of the group are finally getting the recognition they deserve. Author: Connor Rhiel Updated: 6:51 PM EST February 25, 2021 RICHMOND, Va. — On February 22, 1960, 34 Virginia Union University students staged a sit-in at a white-only department store in downtown Richmond. The students were arrested, charged with trespassing. Their eventual conviction was ultimately repealed by the Supreme Court, a landmark decision in the Civil Rights movement. Elizabeth Rice is one of those 34 students. The friendship between Rice and Eliz...