Bill commemorating Virginia site in Brown v. Board signed into law

A bipartisan bill to commemorate historic sites that catalyzed litigation leading to the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was signed into law by President Biden.

The Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park Expansion and Redesignation Act will expand the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Kansas and designate National Park Service Affiliated Areas in Delaware, South Carolina, Kansas, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

Specifically, it will recognize the Moton Museum, formerly the Robert Russa Moton High School, in Farmville, where Barbara Johns led a protest against school segregation and demanded better conditions for Black students. This designation would help protect the site.

The bill was co-sponsored by U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine.

“We’re excited our legislation to commemorate the Moton Museum in Farmville and other historic sites associated with the Brown v. Board of Education decision was signed into law today by President Biden,” Warner and Kaine said in a joint statement. “This bill will preserve the site and help ensure future generations can learn about its significance, as well as the history of Barbara Johns, who led her classmates in a protest against school segregation at the Moton School.”

The 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka transformed the United States, overruling Plessy v. Ferguson and striking down school segregation as unconstitutional. The Brown decision was a major catalyst of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

The bill unanimously passed the Senate and the House of Representatives in April. U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) led the Senate version of the bill. Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC 6) led companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

Warner and Kaine secured $500,000 in funding for critical facility upgrades at the Moton Museum in Farmville through the Fiscal Year 2022 omnibus appropriations bill, and supported efforts to honor Barbara Johns as one of Virginia’s two statues in the United States Capitol.