Jane Cooper Johnson honored for integrating Richmond schools
RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - It's been more than 50 years since the first African American stepped through the halls of West Hampton Junior High and Thomas Jefferson High School.
After all these years, Jane Cooper Johnson is being honored by her high school classmates for her role in integrating public schools in Richmond.
The 1960s - a time when many Richmond public schools were still segregated. A time when hate speech still echoed through the halls of Thomas Jefferson High School.
Over 50 years later, a different sound is coming from those same halls - sounds honoring a woman, who would help pave the way for so many in Richmond.
The class of 1966 held a ceremony for Cooper and her family Wednesday, unveiling a plaque which recognizes her as the first African American to step through the halls of Westhampton Junior High and Thomas Jefferson High School.
"I feel very privileged and thankful that my classmates would think enough of me to bestow this honor upon me," said Cooper.
In 1951, an application was filed with the Richmond City School Board on behalf of Cooper's mother, Elizabeth Cooper, requesting that Jane be transferred from the all-black school she was attending to the all-white Westhampton Junior High.
Cooper says she remembers her attorney asking if she still wanted to go through with it, after two other families decided not to go through with the move. Cooper, with the help of her mother, decided to push forward.
"You would have thought I dreamed about it, but I didn't. I got up the next morning and said, I'll go forth," said Cooper.
In response to her great courage and determination, despite being fearful during those periods of integration, her classmates are now extending a hand of solidarity to Cooper.
"We still have great inequities in the cities, so I think having miss Cooper recognized in this way is inspiration to continue the fight on behalf of all Richmonders," said Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras.
While humbling, accepting that honor and recognizing those who helped her achieve so much, Cooper says that the fight for equality is still a work in progress.
"We are all individually a work-in-progress, and we all learn from mistakes. We don't point fingers, we just learn and we move forward," said Cooper.
The Class of 1966 say that they want the plaque to act as a beacon for all who pass it, to want to walk in Cooper's footsteps and stand up for what is right.
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