Moton Museum Celebrates Barbara Rose Johns Day

Story & Photos by  Shelley D. Sheets

Representative Tom Garrett drafted a resolution to the General Assembly requesting that beginning in 2018, April 23rd be forever recognized as Barbara Rose Johns Day. Governor McAuliffe swiftly signed off agreeing it was necessary to give Barbara Rose Johns her own day to be remembered as she was a mere 16 years old when she masterminded the strike that led to over 400 students (then and more later) being given a new school which was far better than the leaking, inadequate school that had made learning a significant challenge previously.

On, April 22, 2018, Moton Museum invited everyone near and far to come celebrate and honor the memory of Barbara Rose Johns.  Mr. Cainan Townsend emceed and did a wonderful job keeping everyone entertained and interested as they learned about Barbara Rose Johns at the family event. It was an incredibly emotional event where Rep. Garrett shared about the courage it took for a young girl to make such necessary changes.

Barbara Rose Johns was one of five children, having three brothers and one sister, Ms. Joan Johns-Cobbs. All in attendance were pleased that Ms. Johns-Cobbs was able to travel from New Jersey to meet, socialize and take pictures with all who came to the Fireman’s Sports Arena to celebrate her sister being honored. Ms. Johns-Cobbs shared that on April 23rd, it is her hope that everyone will stop and consider how much the USA changed for the better because of her big sister. Ms. Johns-Cobbs commented, “Barbara was fearless, determined, and stood up for what she believed was right. Barbara saw an injustice and decided to do something about it.”

As if Representative Garrett’s and Ms. Johns-Cobbs’ words were not enough to tug at your heart strings, all guests were touched by the spectacular performances given by the Prince Edward County High School Drama Team. Ms. Debbie Rush, PECHS Drama Director, took time to enhance her knowledge of Barbara Rose Johns by conducting in-depth research on the impact she made on the USA. Ms. Rush took the wealth of information gathered and with the facts she already had, wrote and produced an entire musical appropriately named, “B. Rose!” The PECHS Drama Team flawlessly performed the emotional, factual play twice during the event. Words cannot explain what an awesome job the high school students did performing “B. Rose!” The musical took everyone that was in attendance back to April 23, 1951.

Many celebrated Barbara Rose Johns inside the Fireman’s Sports Arena; however, others celebrated outside by playing corn hole, jumping in the bouncy house, or creating imaginative crafts at the Art Table.

The event was free of charge and definitely met the goal of being family friendly. Barbara Rose Johns Day Celebration was made possible by: The Moton Museum Programs Committee, Earnest Toney, who donated all of the food that was in abundance at the event, and last but definitely not least, The PECHS Drama Team, thank you all.