LEE STATUE MOVED OUT OF CAPITOL

Workers have removed a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that represented Virginia in the U.S. Capitol, laboring in the wee hours of Monday morning to take the figure out of Statuary Hall.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam had requested the removal over the summer after a commission chartered by the General Assembly decided that a man who fought to uphold slavery was not a fitting symbol for a diverse and modern state.

Lee had stood with George Washington since 1909 as Virginia’s representatives in the Capitol’s honorary hall where every state gets two statues.

In place of Lee, the state commission has recommended installing a likeness of Barbara Johns, who as a 16-year-old in 1951 protested poor conditions at her all-Black high school in the town of Farmville. Johns’ court case became part of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that struck down racial segregation in public schools nationwide.

“I look forward to seeing a trailblazing young woman of color represent Virginia in the U.S. Capitol, where visitors will learn about Barbara Johns’ contributions to America and be empowered to create positive change in their communities just like she did,” Northam said Sunday night in a news release announcing the pending removal of Lee.

The General Assembly will vote during its session that begins Jan. 13 on whether to authorize the statue of Johns, who died in 1991 at 56. Northam included $500,000 for the effort in his proposed state budget.

Some of Virginia’s congressional delegation — including Reps. Jennifer Wexton and A. Donald McEachin, both Democrats — had called for the Lee statue’s removal from the Capitol last year.

Wexton and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., attended the statue’s removal, which took place around 3 a.m.