RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC/AP) — A state panel has recommended that a statue of civil rights hero Barbara Johns represent Virginia in the Statuary Hall collection at the U.S. Capitol instead of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
The Commission For Historical Statues In The United States Capitol voted 6-1 Wednesday in favor of Johns over four other finalists. The General Assembly still must sign off on the commission’s pick.
Johns was a schoolgirl who led a walkout at Farmville’s Moton High School in 1951 to protest the students’ substandard segregated school facilities. The teenager delivered a call to action to 450 of her classmates that would start the push for equal education.
“The student strike of 1951 helped to change the face of our education system in the country in a profound way,” said Cameron Patterson, Executive Director of the Moton Museum.
The Farmville case led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling – Brown v. The Board of Education – that found officially segregated public schools unconstitutional.
“It really is a story about the transformative power of young people,” Patterson said. “I hope when individuals see her in the U.S. Capitol, it will inspire them to want to learn more about what happened in Prince Edward County and how it impacted the country as a whole.”
Like every other state, Virginia has two representatives in the collection. The state’s other statue is of George Washington.
Virginia picked Lee, the Confederate general, for one of its statues in 1909. The eight-member commission voted earlier this year to remove his statue and recommended that it be moved to the Virginia Museum of History & Culture, which has agreed to take ownership.
