WDBJ7 Roanoke News and Weather NRV Lynchburg Danville | Monument desegregates Capitol lawn

Monument desegregates Capitol lawn

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Half a century after black schoolchildren and civil rights champions struggled to desegregate Virginia's schools, statues honoring them desegregated the state Capitol grounds.

Thousands of people crowded Capitol Square in 95-degree heat Monday for the dedication of the civil rights monument alongside those of Confederate icons.

The Capitol a few steps away was once the seat of Confederate government.

When a gray drape was pulled from the massive, rectangular monument, some in the crowd clapped and cheered. Some dabbed away tears.

Governor Tim Kaine called it a proud moment in Virginia's tragic and triumphant history. Poet Nikki Giovanni hailed it as "a celebration of the road we have traveled."

A bronze figure featured on the monument is that of the late Barbara Johns. As a schoolgirl, she led the 1951 student walkout at all-black Robert Russ Moton High School.