Capitol Honors Civil Rights Icon Barbara Rose Johns

The U.S. Capitol has unveiled a statue of Barbara Rose Johns, a civil rights icon, replacing the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The ceremony took place in Emancipation Hall with notable attendees including Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, alongside over 200 members of Johns' family.

Johns, at age 16 in 1951, led a student strike at the R.R. Moton High School in Farmville, Virginia, protesting against the poor conditions of their segregated school, which contributed to the landmark Supreme Court case, Brown v.

Board of Education, that declared segregated schools unconstitutional. The statue, sculpted by Steven Weitzman, depicts a young Johns holding a book over her head, with an inscription challenging the status quo.

This event marks a significant political and cultural shift in how America recognizes its civil rights history, as highlighted by Speaker Johnson and Leader Jeffries during the ceremony. The statue will be placed in the Crypt of the Capitol, as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection, which allows each state to contribute two statues.

The Lee statue was removed in December 2020 amid a reevaluation of Confederate monuments following George Floyd's death, and the Virginia state commission recommended Johns as a replacement statue. The former high school is now a National Historic Landmark and museum, emphasizing the importance of Johns' legacy as a trailblazer for equal education.