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New Statue Honors Activist Barbara Johns at Capitol

12/16/2025

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Summary

Story summary

U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) announced a December 16, 2025 unveiling of Barbara Rose Johns, a Virginia student activist, at the U.S. Capitol.
She led a 1951 Moton High School strike for equal education, influencing Brown v. Board of Education.
The statue replaces the Confederate General Robert E. Lee statue, removed in December 2020 amid debates on monuments; the pedestal bears a quote from Isaiah and a call to action.

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Story summary

U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) announced a December 16, 2025 unveiling of Barbara Rose Johns, a Virginia student activist, at the U.S. Capitol.
She led a 1951 Moton High School strike for equal education, influencing Brown v. Board of Education.
The statue replaces the Confederate General Robert E. Lee statue, removed in December 2020 amid debates on monuments; the pedestal bears a quote from Isaiah and a call to action.