On Tuesday, Dec. 17, family, friends, spectators and legislators across the political spectrum filled the U.S. Capitol Emancipation Hall for the unveiling of a statue honoring Barbara Rose Johns, the civil rights pioneer whose leadership as a 16-year-old student in Farmville, Virginia, helped lay the groundwork for the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education.
“This is the story of someone whose courage changed the course of American history,” Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) told The Informer.
Johns’ statue replaced former Confederate leader Robert E. Lee’s, which was removed from the Capitol in 2020.
Youngkin, who walks by the Johns statue in the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond daily to get to work, emphasized the freedom fighter’s pivotal role in the civil rights movement.
“She stood in a moment in time to not only right a historic wrong of separate but equal,” said the governor, “but to demonstrate that education is the key to everything and it should be equally attainable to everyone.”
Johns’ Story Highlights the Power of Youth Activism
In 1951, Johns organized a student strike to protest segregated, poorly funded and unequal school conditions at Robert Russa Moton High School in Farmville, Virginia.
She and her peers arranged a call to the school’s principal, convincing him students were in danger of being arrested downtown which prompted him to leave campus.
This allowed her time to organize a “special assembly” of students in the separate gymnasium, where she would famously convince her peers to march down to and protest for better school conditions outside of the Prince Edward County courthouse and school board offices.
The protest didn’t end there, students intensified their pressure on school officials by staying out of class in the weeks that followed, despite facing expulsion.
“Barbara was so brave and courageous and we thank her,” Johns’ sister Joan Cobbs told The Informer.
Johns and her fellow students’ efforts helped catch the attention of the NAACP and eventually ended up prompting one of the five cases (Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County) later consolidated before the U.S. Supreme Court into the famous Brown v. Board of Education decision, which banned segregation in schools.
The monument recognizes Johns’ role in the fight for educational equity and elevates the often overlooked contributions of young people in the civil rights movement.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), celebrated knowing that Johns’ legacy continues.
“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. “May she continue to inspire generations to stand up for equality and justice.”
Johns’ Siblings Celebrate: ‘It’s Been a Long Journey‘
For the Johns family, the unveiling was less about a monument and more about preserving the story of their sister and who she was beyond the history books.
“It’s been a long journey to get recognition for my sister,” Ernest Johns told The Informer. “It was just horrible for African Americans [during segregation], so for her to stand up and put an effort to change things was really important to us.”
The Washington Informer)
After years of advocacy, the civil rights leader’s brother Roderick Johns was thoroughly pleased with the day’s turnout.
“This is wonderful. [It doesn’t] get much better than this,” he said, “and God bless all the people that helped get this event [to the finish line].”
Cobbs emphasized her sister’s statue unveiling in the U.S. Capitol as a proud milestone for the entire family.
“This was such a momentous occasion and one that we all always remember,” Cobbs told The Informer. “[We know] her spirit is with us today.”