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Virginia's Lee Statue has been Removed from US Capitol

Jack Mayer/Office of Governor Northam

A statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that represented Virginia in the U.S. Capitol has been removed.

The Washington Post reports that workers removed the statue from Statuary Hall early Monday.

Lee’s statue had stood with George Washington’s statue since 1909 as Virginia’s representatives in the Capitol’s honorary hall.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam requested its removal. A state commission has recommended replacing Lee’s statue with a likeness of Barbara Johns. She protested poor conditions at her all-Black high school in the town of Farmville in 1951. Her court case became part of a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down racial segregation in public schools.

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