New sculpture in Richmond’s West End honors local civil rights hero

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - A new sculpture was unveiled in Richmond’s West End on Tuesday, but there’s a deeper significance behind the work of art.

The sculpture was erected to honor the person who single-handedly desegregated Westhampton Junior High School back in 1961 at the young age of 12: Daisy Jane Cooper, now known as Jane Cooper Johnson.

She was just 9 years old when her mother, Bettie, decided she wanted an equal-opportunity education for her daughter.

At the time, Jane was traveling 5 miles to get to the all-Black George Washington Carver Elementary School.

Her mother believed she had the right to attend Westhampton, which was closer but all white.

This was in 1958, four years after the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling for school desegregation.

After a three-year legal battle and a U.S. District Court order to desegregate, Jane became the first African-American student at Westhampton.

“It was very lonely, uncomfortable. I was only 12, but when my mother first initiated the application, I was only 9 years old,” Jane said.

Jane says she still remembers the isolation she felt during that time.

“Loneliness, no one really bothered me, but students weren’t as friendly,” she said.

Now, a brand new sculpture called “Strides” stands 12 feet tall at the corner of Libbie and Patterson Avenues.

Many artists submitted work, but ultimately, the “Strides” proposal submitted by local artists Matt Lively and Tim Harper of Lively/Harper Environmental Sculpture was selected.

Bon Secours and Thalhimer Realty Partners commissioned the sculpture.

“While it was a bold decision at the moment, it changed the course of history for our city, our state, and, in part, impacted our country,” Richmond City Councilor Andreas Addison said.

The art is meant to inspire passers-by to consider the weight of mounting pressures that Jane must have felt walking up those steps, honoring her sacrifices for the greater good.

“It helps to create dialogue, and in that dialogue, it brings out empathy, hopefully, compassion, being inquisitive, curious, saying ‘I want to learn more,’” Jane said.

“The biggest supporters of this effort were her classmates,” Addison said.

One of those classmates was Jim Plotkin. He says he wasn’t friends with Jane back when they were in school together, but nearly 50 years later, they forged a bond he’s forever grateful for.

“She’s really become my hero,” he said. “I don’t know many people who have given their childhood up to do something good for the rest of the community, and she did that.”

He says he’s glad she is finally getting the recognition she deserves, as it sends a larger message.

“We may not have become good friends when she needed us at that time, but maybe it’s not too late to do the right thing,” Plotkin said.

Jane and her classmates say they hope everyone who visits walks away from the experience with a better understanding of the sacrifices it took to get to this point in history.