Civil Rights Pioneer Barbara Rose Johns Replaces Robert E. Lee in US Capitol Statuary Collection
Washington D.C., Tuesday, 16 December 2025.
Leading a walkout at just 16, Barbara Rose Johns today replaces Confederate General Robert E. Lee in the U.S. Capitol, marking a significant turning point in national commemoration.
A Historic Unveiling in Emancipation Hall
On Tuesday, December 16, 2025, the United States Capitol formally integrated a statue of civil rights leader Barbara Rose Johns into the National Statuary Hall Collection, replacing the figure of Confederate General Robert E. Lee [1][2]. The dedication ceremony, scheduled for 3:00 p.m. in Emancipation Hall, drew a bipartisan assembly of leadership, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries [1][3]. They were joined by Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) and Senator Tim Kaine (D), reflecting the state’s unified support for this transition in historical representation [1][4][5]. The event marks the culmination of a process that began with the removal of the Lee statue in December 2020, which had stood in the Capitol for 111 years before being relocated to the Virginia Museum of History & Culture [1][4].
The Legacy of the Moton School Strike
Johns is memorialized as a teenager, a decision that highlights her pivotal role at age 16 when she led a walkout in 1951 to protest the horrendous conditions at the segregated Robert Russa Moton High School in Farmville, Virginia [1][2]. This student strike was not merely a local protest; it resulted in a lawsuit that became one of the five foundational cases consolidated into the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling [1][4]. This landmark decision declared that “separate but equal” public schools were unconstitutional, dismantling the legal framework of segregation in American education [1]. Senator Kaine, who previously helped create the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial, emphasized the educational value of the new monument, noting that millions of visitors will now encounter Johns’ story of youthful leadership and courage [4].
A Shift in National Commemoration
The installation of the Johns statue, sculpted by Maryland artist Steven Weitzman, represents a significant symbolic exchange: a Confederate general who fought to preserve slavery has been succeeded by a Black teenager who fought against segregation [2]. The statue joins George Washington as one of Virginia’s two contributions to the National Statuary Hall Collection, a pairing that presents a more complex and inclusive narrative of the state’s history [1]. The replacement follows a recommendation by a state commission established in 2020 and received final approval from the Architect of the Capitol and the Joint Committee on the Library in July 2025 [1]. Members of the Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors also traveled to Washington to witness the dedication, underscoring the enduring local pride in Johns’ legacy [3].