Commission selects civil rights icon Barbara Rose Johns to replace Robert E. Lee statue at U.S. Capitol Barbara Rose Johns (Source: Library of Virginia) By NBC12 Newsroom | December 16, 2020 at 7:15 PM EST - Updated December 16 at 9:04 PM
RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - The Commission on Historical Statues in the United States Capitol has recommended that civil rights icon Barbara Rose Johns represent Virginia in the National Statuary Hall Collection, replacing the existing statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee.
Gov. Ralph Northam has also announced that his proposed budget includes dearly $500,000 to replace the statue.
“On April 23, 1951, sixteen-year-old Barbara Rose Johns led a student walkout at Robert Russa Moton High School in Farmville, protesting the overcrowded and inferior conditions of the all-Black school compared to those of White students at nearby Farmville High School,” a release said.
“The impact of what she did as a young person is so compelling and it changed so many lives,” said Margaret Vanderhye, a former Democratic state lawmaker and one of the commissioners. “Sometimes the history finds the people.”
The commission’s vote was 6-1, with the lone dissent coming from Anne Richardson, chief of the Rappahannock Tribe, who cast her vote for Pocahontas, an iconic figure from the beginning of the first English colony who was one of the other five finalists the commission had in front of it.
“In the time period we’re in when we’re going back and trying to correct history, removing statues … the Native American people who have been left out of everything should have a place in history,” she said.
Editorial: Maggie L Walker or Barbara Johns should replace Robert E Lee in U S Capitol richmond.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from richmond.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.