Via A Mighty Girl

For 111 years, a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee has represented Virginia in the U.S. Capitol. Today, a statue of teenaged civil rights activist Barbara Rose Johns took his place -- a pointed replacement for the general who fought to preserve slavery. Johns's bronze likeness now stands in the Capitol's Emancipation Hall as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection, to which each state can contribute two statues. Johns now joins George Washington as one of Virginia's two representatives, prompting Cainan Townsend, who runs the museum at Johns's former high school, to call it a powerful pairing: "The notion of one of the founders of our country being paired with one of the saviors of the soul of our country."

Johns was just 16 years old in 1951 when she led more than 450 students in a walkout at Robert Russa Moton High School in Farmville, Virginia. The school's conditions were deplorable -- classrooms were located in tar-paper shacks without proper plumbing, and there were no science labs, cafeteria, or gymnasium. When Johns brought her concerns to a teacher who dismissed her, she decided to take matters into her own hands.

She organized a strike that caught the attention of NAACP lawyers, who agreed to take the case -- but only if the students would pursue full desegregation, not just a new building. Johns later reflected that committing to that fight "felt like reaching for the moon."

The lawsuit became one of five cases consolidated in Brown v. Board of Education, and the Supreme Court's landmark 1954 decision declared "separate but equal" public schools unconstitutional. The 11-foot statue, sculpted by Steven Weitzman of Maryland, depicts Johns mid-rallying cry, holding a book aloft. Its pedestal is engraved with her challenge to fellow students: "Are we going to just accept these conditions, or are we going to do something about it?"

The journey to having Johns honored in the Capitol began five years ago. Former Democratic Virginia Governor Ralph Northam requested the removal of the Lee statue during the national reckoning on race following George Floyd's murder, declaring at the time: "The Confederacy is a symbol of Virginia's racist and divisive history, and it is past time we tell our story with images of perseverance, diversity, and inclusion."

In December 2020, a state commission unanimously recommended replacing Lee's statue with one of Johns, chosen from a list of 100 names and five finalists. The sculpture received final approval from the Architect of the Capitol and the Joint Committee on the Library in July. Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, who witnessed Lee's removal five years ago, quoted Isaiah to describe Johns's legacy: "And a little child shall lead them." He added: "I'm thrilled that millions of visitors to the U.S. Capitol, including many young people, will now walk by her statue and learn about her story. May she continue to inspire generations to stand up for equality and justice."