A statue commemorating the teenage civil rights pioneer Barbara Rose Johns was formally unveiled at the US Capitol in Washington DC on Tuesday, permanently replacing a statue of Confederate general Robert E Lee that had stood for over a century.
A Legacy of Courage in Youth
The ceremony in Emancipation Hall featured prominent political figures including Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Virginia's Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin. More than 200 members of Johns' family attended the event, which included musical performances by a Washington high school choir.
Barbara Rose Johns was just 16 years old in 1951 when she organised a student walkout at the segregated R.R. Moton High School in Farmville, Virginia, to protest its poor and unequal conditions. Her brave actions helped spark a legal challenge that became part of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case, leading to the 1954 Supreme Court ruling that declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.
The Statue and Its Symbolism
The new sculpture depicts a young Johns standing beside a lectern, holding a tattered book aloft. The pedestal is engraved with her powerful question: "Are we going to just accept these conditions, or are we going to do something about it?" It also features a biblical quote from Isaiah: "And a little child shall lead them."
This statue now represents the state of Virginia in the National Statuary Hall Collection, taking the place occupied for 111 years by Robert E Lee. The Lee statue was removed in December 2020 amid a national reckoning over Confederate monuments following the death of George Floyd. It has since been relocated to the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.
Honouring a Lasting Impact
Following her activism, Johns later became a librarian in Philadelphia, raised five children, and passed away in 1991 at the age of 56. Her sister, Joan Johns Cobbs, read from Johns' personal journal at the unveiling, sharing poignant prayers for a better school.
Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries underscored the significance of the change, stating Virginia would now be represented by "an actual patriot who embodied the principle of liberty and justice for all, and not a traitor who took up arms against the United States to preserve the brutal institution of chattel slavery."
The statue, created by Maryland sculptor Steven Weitzman, received final approval from congressional authorities in July. It will be placed in the Capitol Crypt. Johns is also memorialised in the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial in Richmond, and her former high school is now a National Historic Landmark and museum.
