For Sally Collins, who grew up during the Civil Rights movement in Richmond, listening to state leaders and activists talk Monday of Virginia's history was like watching a movie.
She could feel the emotions rise within her as she sat in the sweltering heat on Capitol Square, awaiting the unveiling of the state's new Civil Rights memorial.
"I'm really moved by this experience," she said. "I've lived long enough to witness the things they are talking about.
"This is something we couldn't imagine as kids. But we're all here together now. It's really gratifying."
After nearly an hour of speeches and accolades from Civil Rights activists, state leaders and famous supporters, the four-sided memorial was unveiled in front of thousands of people.
It was inspired by 16-year-old Barbara Johns who, on April 23, 1951, staged a walkout and demonstration with her fellow students at Robert R. Moton High School in Farmville.
They were protesting the intolerable conditions at the school, which had twice the number of students it was designed for and offered no cafeteria or gymnasium facilities. They were also standing up for their teachers, who were poorly compensated compared to those in the all white high school.
A month later, civil rights attorneys Oliver White Hill and Spottswood Robinson III joined the cause and a filed a lawsuit that was later joined with four others cases to become Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. The resulting Supreme Court decision in 1954 struck down the "separate but equal" racial doctrine that governed school policy.
"One of the first things you learn in law school is equal and impartial justice under the law should be offered to everybody," state Attorney General Bob McDonnell told the crowd. "For a long time in Virginia, we didn't always do the right thing.
"This is another step here to say we want to have an enduring symbol of equality in Virginia."
Speaker of the House of Delegates Bill Howell, R-Stafford, told the group that he hopes the monument would remind everyone that bigotry and hate have no place in American life.
"Let us strive to fulfill the promise of America," he said, "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
Sculptor Stanley Bleifeld, who created the monument, said a friend inspired him when he asked how Bleifeld planned to create a monument for something that happened 50 years ago.
"I wanted to make a living memorial, not a statue so that people engage and understand what's behind it," he explained, "because Civil Rights is a continuing (movement)."
Among the other attendees and speakers were Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and wife Anne Holton, former Gov. Mark Warner and wife Lisa Collis, General Assembly leaders, Richmond City Council and School Board, NAACP president Julian Bond, famous poet Nikki Giovanni and actor Blair Underwood.
Pamela Venable, a teacher at Prince Edward Elementary School, rode a bus with friends and family to the event. After the unveiling, she photographed her niece, Sabrina Davis, 7, with friends in front of the memorial.
"I wanted her to see and understand this history," she said.
Ola R. Luck, Collins' sister, drove from Pittsylvania County to attend the unveiling. She, too, remembers when it all happened.
"This is a realization of a dream that in my youth, I didn't think was possible," she said.
"This is awesome. I think the significance of the day is that we all feel a sense of change in Virginia. It's a much better state of Virginia and we're all inspired to be here."