Richmond’s newest sculpture, "Strides," commemorating the racial integration of Westhampton Junior High School and Daisy Jane Cooper (now Jane Cooper Johnson’s) place in Richmond’s history, was unveiled on Jan. 30. Standing 12 feet tall at the corner of Patterson and Libbie Avenues, "Strides" was designed to inspire viewers to consider the weight of mounting pressures that Jane Cooper Johnson must have felt when, in 1961 after a three-year legal case and a U.S. District Court Order to desegregate, she became the first African American student at Westhampton at just 12 years old.
Racial Integration at Westhampton Junior High School
Daisy Jane Cooper was just 9 years old when her mother, Elizabeth Cooper, decided she wanted an equal opportunity education for her daughter. Their family lived on Marian Street in the current Westwood Historic Neighborhood, which is bordered by Willow Lawn Drive and Patterson Avenue. It was four-and-a-half blocks to the all-white Westhampton Elementary School, but Daisy Jane and all the children of color in her African American neighborhood were bused five miles away to the all-Black George Washington Carver Elementary School.
In 1958, years after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling for school desegregation, Elizabeth Cooper took action. An application was filed on her behalf to transfer her daughter Daisy Jane to Westhampton Elementary School. Two other plaintiffs joined Mrs. Cooper in her request. Attorney Oliver Hill and fellow NAACP lawyers represented them in the case, which continued over a three-year period.
In July 1961, Daisy Jane Cooper was granted admission to Westhampton Junior High School under a U.S. desegregation court order that was handed down by Judge Oren R. Lewis, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
The other families who had filed alongside her mother had withdrawn their cases, so Daisy Jane was on her own. During the summer before she started at Westhampton, her family was advised to be cautious when answering their door, and for Daisy Jane to refrain from playing outside for her own safety. On the first day of school in September of 1961, 12-year-old Daisy Jane walked to school, with her mother and Dr. Wendell P. Russell, pastor at Westwood Baptist Church and dean of students at Virginia Union University, by her side. A year later, she walked into Richmond’s Thomas Jefferson High School alone, becoming the first African American student to integrate that school.
“People often tell me that I was very brave. Well, that may be the case, but the foremost example of resilience can be credited to my mother,” said Jane Cooper Johnson in an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch in 2018. “Yes, my mother was resolute in wanting the best for me, despite any obstacles before her. However, because of her courage, and my being a product of my environment, I, too, was able to withstand the challenges ahead.”
For every courageous stride taken by young Daisy Jane (now Jane Cooper Johnson), we are eternally grateful. Through her extraordinary faith, humanity and strength of character, she raised awareness of injustices and raised expectations and hopes for a more inclusive and just society. Today, she continues to build bridges and forge new paths paved with friendship and understanding, inviting others to join and work together with her to make our diverse community a healthier, more equitable and more peaceful place for all.
About "Strides"
"Strides," aptly named to honor those first courageous steps Jane Cooper Johnson took on the steps leading to the Westhampton School in 1961, consists of two 12-foot by 6-foot forms. Standing four feet apart, the two mirrored forms create negative space between them in the shape of a plus sign, which serves as a visual symbol of integration. By entering and moving through this negative space, one can sense tension from the close proximity of surrounding forces. This exercise is meant to inspire viewers to consider what Ms. Cooper Johnson must have felt that first day of school, with the weight of mounting pressures all around her.
Emerge from the interior and walk around the sculpture to either end and one can see that "Strides" is, in essence, two plus signs consolidated into one experience. This is the story of integration: the joining of many for the strength of all.
Esteemed sculptor Paul DiPasquale assisted Bon Secours, Thalhimer Realty Partners and a committee made up of members of the community to solicit submissions from the local arts community. That committee included Charlie Agee, Rev. Jeanette Brown, Harrison Hayes, Sean O’Brien, Burt Pinnock, Jim Plotkin, Rhodes Ritenour, Claire Rosenbaum and Mimi Sadler. Ultimately, the "Strides" proposal submitted by local artist Matt Lively and Tim Harper of Lively/Harper Environmental Sculpture was selected.
Racial Integration at Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital
When Bon Secours opened its first Richmond hospital, Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital, in 1966, it was typical of hospitals and other public buildings in the South to have segregated restrooms, patient rooms, waiting rooms and much more. When Mother Germanus, one of the Sisters of Bon Secours who founded the hospital, had her first glimpse of the architectural drawings for the new hospital, she took a bold stand and refused to allow the hospital to be segregated. She tore up the architects’ plans and influenced the presiding bishop to align with the Sisters’ insistence that St. Mary’s would be the region’s first integrated hospital, several years after the integration of Westhampton School. Much like Jane Cooper Johnson’s story, St. Mary’s became instrumental in showing that integration could work when people and organizations are guided by values that honor human dignity, equality and justice.
“At Bon Secours, we have long valued human dignity, diversity, equity and inclusion as ministry priorities,” said Drew Burrichter, vice president of Mission for Bon Secours Richmond. “Our Mission calls us to improve the health and well-being of our communities, bring good help to those in need and continue on the legacy of the Sisters who committed to serving everyone without regard to race, religion or ability to pay when they first answered the call to serve 200 years ago in Paris, France.”
Bon Secours and Thalhimer Realty Partners commissioned the sculpture, which was installed in January of 2024.