Barbara Rose Johns Statue at Virginia Civil Rights Memorial

Photo credit - WWP team

On Virginia state capitol grounds stands the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial, honoring people from the civil rights movement in Virginia who led and participated in the protests for school desegregation in the state.

The Virginia government initiated the project to erect the memorial in 2005. They chose Stanley Bleifeld’s design and held the official unveiling ceremony on July 21st, 2008.

The monument consists of 18 bronze statues mounted on the four sides of a white granite wall. Leading the group is Barbara Rose Johns, portrayed as she was 16 years old when she organized and led the student strike for equal education opportunities at Robert Russa Moton High School in Farmville. After the protests, the students, with the NAACP’s legal support, filed the case Davis v. Prince Edward County, the only student-initiated case that eventually was consolidated into the Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision declaring that school segregation was unconstitutional.

Also portrayed in the memorial are Spottswood Robinson, Oliver Hill, and Reverend L. Francis Griffin. The following quotes are inscribed on the granite wall: “It seemed like reaching for the moon.” Barbara Rose Johns and “The legal system can force open doors and sometimes even knock down walls, but it cannot build bridges. That job belongs to you and me.” Justice Thurgood Marshall. The nearby plaque describes the events.

Also standing on Virginia state capitol grounds is the Virginia Women’s Monument celebrating the legacy of 12 Virginian women. Read more about it here.

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