Experience Children of Courage This Independence Day Weekend

The Robert Russa Moton Museum invites you to experience Children of Courage, a new play in development inspired by the courageous students of the 1951 Moton Student Strike and the events that helped shape one of the most significant chapters in American civil rights history.

Before the staged reading at Moton on Saturday, July 4, audiences are invited to attend the first public reading at Waterworks Players Community Theatre on Friday, July 3, at 7:00 p.m. Located at 25 SMI Way, Farmville, the evening will conclude with a community Q&A that will help inform the continued development of the play.

Then join us at the Robert Russa Moton Museum on Saturday, July 4, at 3:00 p.m. for a second staged reading in the Museum auditorium, followed by another audience Q&A.

Commissioned by the Robert Russa Moton Museum in association with Waterworks Players Community Theatre, Children of Courage is written by award-winning playwright Harrison David Rivers. The play explores the courage of the Moton students—led by 16-year-old Barbara Rose Johns—whose 1951 strike became the only student-initiated case among the five cases consolidated into Brown v. Board of Education.

Both staged readings are free and open to the public. No reservations are required.

Staged Reading Schedule

Friday, July 3, 2026 | 7:00 p.m.
Waterworks Players Community Theatre
25 SMI Way
Farmville, VA

Saturday, July 4, 2026 | 3:00 p.m.
Robert Russa Moton Museum Auditorium
900 Griffin Boulevard
Farmville, VA

Learn more about the project and its development:
https://motonmuseum.org/for-immediate-release/