Joan Johns Cobbs, right, listens as Gov. Terry McAuliffe delivers remarks during a dedication ceremony for the Barbara Johns Building, named for her sister, pictured in the portrait, left, in the building’s lobby at 202 N. 9th St.
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16-year-old has state building named in her honor
Nearly 66 years after Barbara Johns, a 16-year-old student at Robert Russa Moton High School in Farmville, led hundreds of her classmates on a walkout to protest substandard conditions in her segregated school that were separate but not equal, her sister tearfully thanked Gov. Terry McAuliffe for naming a newly renovated state building in Downtown in Ms. Johns’ honor.