When the Righteous Triumph

On Feb. 29, 1960, about 50 African American students from Blake and Middleton high schools in Tampa dared to do something historic: They marched down to Woolworth’s department store, sat down at the segregated lunch counter, and ordered food. The demonstrations were among the most successful civil rights actions in the South, say historians. Yet they have remained a little-known chapter in Tampa history. “When the Righteous Triumph”—a play that premiered at Stageworks Theater two years ago and returns for a second run March 6-16 in the Straz Center’s Jaeb Theater—aims to remedy this.