A sculptor in Maryland has been chosen to create a monument to civil rights activist Barbara Johns for the United States Capitol. In this photo from July 2008, Roderick Johns, brother of civilian Barbara Johns, holds a photo of his sister at the newly dedicated Virginia Civil Rights Memorial on the grounds of the State Capitol in Richmond, Va.
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A sculptor in Maryland has been chosen to create a monument to civil rights activist Barbara Johns for the United States Capitol. In this photo from July 2008, Roderick Johns, brother of civilian Barbara Johns, holds a photo of his sister at the newly dedicated Virginia Civil Rights Memorial on the grounds of the State Capitol in Richmond, Va.
Steve Helber/AP
sculptor Steven Weitzman was chosen to create a statue for the United States Capitol of Barbara Rose Johns, who as a teenager led a student strike in Virginia, helping to pave the way for the lifting of segregation. treatment in school.
The United States Capitol Historic Monuments Committee selected the Maryland sculptor to create the bronze statue to replace Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s statue contributed by Virginia. Monument Collectionwhich will house a statue of Barbara Rose Johns, consisting of two statues from each state.
Weitzman was the unanimous choice for the job, the committee said.
State Senator Louise Lucas, chair of the committee, said: “His apparent passion for this project and his articulation of Barbara John’s legacy prompted the Committee’s emotional response. “. statement. “Following his emotional presentation, the decision to award this commission to Weitzman was made quickly and easily.”
Weitzman’s proposed design shows Johns on a school stage holding a book as she stands by the podium. Beneath the wooden floorboards is spines of black authors. The concept was inspired by her 1951 speech to her classmates calling for a schoolwide strike to protest the substandard education that Black students received.
Johns, at the age of 16, led a historic student strike to protest overcrowding at Robert Russa Moton High School, an all-black school in Farmville, Va. The resulting lawsuit helped pave the way for the milestone Brown sues Board of Education ruling to abolish apartheid nearly 70 years ago.
“Barbara Rose Johns led an extraordinary act of nonviolent civil disobedience that helped trigger the American Civil Rights Movement,” Weitzman said in the statement. “As was the case with many Negro youths of the Jim Crow era, this brave young woman has hitherto not been honored in the great halls of America.”
The design will be “slightly revised” based on comments from the committee and members of the Johns family, after which it will be submitted to the Architects of the Capitol and the Joint Committee on Libraries for approval. last browsing.
“What my family wants to see is that we get approved, we go into the final approval process for this statue, because we really want it to look like Barbara,” said Robert Johns, brother. by Barbara, told the committee and Weitzman on Wednesday, following to NPR member station VPM.
Weitzman’s prestigious commission includes bronze sculptures of the former Mayor of Washington, D.C. Marion S. Barry Jr.., and abolitionism Frederick Douglassinstalled at the United States Capitol.
The 11-foot-tall statue of Johns is expected to be placed at the United States Capitol next to Virginian President George Washington in 2024. VPM reported.
