When a Teenager Replaces a Confederate General

Barbara Rose Johns and the Power of Youth in the Civil Rights Movement

Barbara Rose Johns Powell has been in the news lately because, as a teenage activist, her courage and determination helped dismantle Jim Crow segregation (also known as de jure segregation). Barbara Rose Johns is not a widely known name, but hopefully that is changing because on December 16, 2025, a statue of her was erected in the National Statuary Hall. Equally important, her statue replaced one of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, whose statue was removed in 2020 when the nation finally began having serious conversations about who it chooses to memorialize.