US Capitol statue of teen civil rights leader Barbara Rose Johns to fill Robert E. Lee’s place

A new statue honoring civil rights pioneer Barbara Rose Johns will be unveiled Tuesday at the U.S. Capitol, replacing a long-standing monument to Confederate General Robert E. Lee that was removed in 2020.

The ceremony in Emancipation Hall will feature a bipartisan gathering of political leaders, including Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, and members of Virginia’s congressional delegation.

Johns’ statue represents a pivotal moment in American civil rights history. In 1951, as a 16-year-old high school student in Farmville, Virginia, Johns led a student strike protesting the deplorable conditions at R.R. Moton High School, a segregated facility for Black students. Her courageous stand eventually gained support from NAACP attorneys, who filed a lawsuit that became one of five cases consolidated in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision.

That historic 1954 ruling declared “separate but equal” public schools unconstitutional, helping to dismantle the legal framework for segregation across the United States and transforming American education.

The statue depicts the teenage Johns standing beside a lectern, holding a tattered book above her head—symbolizing her fight for educational equality. Its pedestal bears her rallying words: “Are we going to just accept these conditions, or are we going to do something about it?” It also includes a biblical reference from Isaiah: “And a little child shall lead them.”

Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia highlighted the significance of this biblical inscription, noting how it captures Johns’ extraordinary leadership at such a young age. “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,” Kaine said in a statement. “May she continue to inspire generations to stand up for equality and justice.”

After her pivotal role in the civil rights movement, Johns married Reverend William Powell, raised five children, and worked as a librarian in Philadelphia’s public school system until her death in 1991 at age 56.

The installation marks a significant shift in which historical figures America chooses to memorialize in its most symbolic public spaces. The Lee statue had represented Virginia for 111 years before its removal during a period of national reckoning with Confederate symbols following George Floyd’s death in 2020. The statue was subsequently relocated to the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.

Former Democratic Governor Ralph Northam initiated the request to remove Lee’s statue, and in December 2020, a state commission recommended Johns as his replacement. The statue, created by Maryland sculptor Steven Weitzman, received final approval from the Architect of the Capitol and the Joint Committee on the Library this past July.

Johns’ statue joins Virginia’s other contribution to the National Statuary Hall Collection, a statue of George Washington. Each state can contribute two statues to this collection, which are displayed throughout the Capitol complex, including National Statuary Hall, the Crypt, the Hall of Columns, and the Capitol Visitor Center.

This isn’t the first public monument honoring Johns’ legacy. She is also featured in the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial outside the state Capitol in Richmond, cementing her place as a transformative figure in both state and national history.

The replacement of Lee with Johns reflects America’s ongoing reassessment of which historical figures deserve commemoration in the nation’s most hallowed spaces—moving from those who fought to preserve slavery to those who fought to overcome its lasting legacy of discrimination and inequality.