Virginia Department of Historic Resources
(dhr.virginia.gov)
For Immediate Release
June 2025

Contact:
Ivy Tan
Department of Historic Resources
Marketing & Communications Manager
ivy.tan@dhr.virginia.gov
804-482-6445

Commission for Historical Statues in the United States Capitol Set to Approve Barbara Rose Johns Statue

—The Commission will meet this month to approve the statue of Barbara Rose Johns for the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall Collection—

RICHMOND – The Commission for Historical Statues in the United States Capitol (the Commission) will hold its twelfth public meeting on Wednesday, June 18, 2025. The meeting, which begins at 1:30 p.m., will be held in the Reynolds Leadership Center on the 2^nd Floor of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture, located on 428 N. Arthur Ashe Boulevard in Richmond.

At this meeting the Commission will review photographs of the completed bronze statue created by sculptor Steven Weitzman depicting the 20th-century civil rights leader Barbara Rose Johns, as well as receive an update regarding the statue’s production. After the statue has been given the final approval from the Commission, the Joint Committee on the Library, and the Architect of the Capitol, it will be installed in the United States Capitol as one of Virginia’s two contributions to the Statuary Hall Collection.

Production of the full-size Johns statue began after the Commission and the Joint Committee on the Library approved the maquette in 2023. The Johns statue will replace the statue of Robert E. Lee that was removed in December 2020. To recommend a replacement statue, the Commission had reviewed a list of names of historical figures submitted by Virginia citizens before selecting Johns from five finalists. The Joint Committee on the Library approved the Commission’s request to erect a statue of Johns in the U.S. Capitol in 2021.

The meeting agenda, as well as instructions for how to participate virtually and to register for public comment, are available on the Commission’s webpage. Though the meeting agenda includes time for verbal public comment, written comment is also welcomed and can be submitted to USCapitolCommission@dhr.virginia.gov.

The Department of Historic Resources, the Commonwealth’s state historic preservation office, provides administrative support to the Commission. Questions concerning the Commission, its purpose, and the upcoming meeting should be directed to the department.

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