WASHINGTON — Virginia removed its long-standing statue of Robert E. Lee from the U.S. Capitol overnight, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Monday.
The move comes after a commission established earlier this year unanimously voted in July to take down and replace the statue. The likeness of the Confederate general had represented Virginia in the National Statuary Hall Collection for 111 years alongside a likeness of President George Washington.
In a statement Monday, Northam heralded the decision, calling the Confederacy “a symbol of Virginia’s racist and divisive history.”
“It’s past time we tell our story with images of perseverance, diversity, and inclusion,” he said.
On Wednesday, Virginia’s Commission for Historical Statues in the United States Capitol chose to replace the Lee statue with one of teenage civil rights activist Barbara Rose Johns. In 1951, a 16-year-old Johns led students in a walkout in protest of conditions at Farmville’s all-Black Robert Russa Moton High School. The case was picked up by the NAACP, which filed a lawsuit that later became part of Brown v. Board of Education, the pivotal Supreme Court case that led to the desegregation of American schools.
>> Related: Mississippi voters replace Confederate-themed flag with magnolia, ‘In God We Trust’
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., watched the statue come down early Monday alongside Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-Va., and a representative from the governor’s office.
“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,” Kaine wrote in a social media post showing the statue coming down.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has previously called for taking down statues of Confederate figures, welcomed the change Monday. In a statement, she vowed to continue working to remove symbols of the Confederacy from the Capitol.
>> Related: Robert E. Lee high school in Virginia to be renamed in honor of late Rep. John Lewis
“The halls of Congress are the very heart of our Democracy, and the statues within the Capitol should embody our highest ideals as Americans,” she said. “There is no room for celebrating the bigotry of the Confederacy in the Capitol or any other place of honor in our country.”
The Lee statue will go to the Virginia Museum of History and Culture in Richmond, officials said.