Virginia officially replaced its statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in the U.S. Capitol with a statue honoring Barbara Rose Johns, the teenage civil rights activist whose 1951 student-led protest against segregated schools helped spark the legal fight that culminated in Brown v. Board of Education. The dedication marked a historic moment, recognizing Johns as one of only four Black women represented by statues in the Capitol and symbolizing a broader shift away from honoring Confederate figures toward celebrating champions of justice and equality.

