The Fairfax County school board voted unanimously on Thursday evening to rename Robert E. Lee High School in Springfield, Virginia, after the late Civil Rights icon Congressman John Lewis.

The new name, which was advocated for by members of the Fairfax NAACP Chapter, will take effect with the start of the upcoming school year. Other names in the running included Barack Obama, Cesar Chavez, and Mildred Loving, among some names that were based on the school’s location.

“I was honored to put forward the recommendation to change the name of Robert E. Lee HS to John R. Lewis HS,” said Tamara Derenak Kaufax in a post on her public Facebook page after the vote. “I thank all those who participated in the many community conversations, town halls and public forums that got us here today. Thank you to the unanimous support of my colleagues in the vote! We are now the Lewis Lancers!”

The Chair of the Board, Ricardy Anderson, said that the name was fitting and a tribute to “a true American hero”. 

This change marks the first time in Virginia that a school named for a Confederate leader has been renamed for a Civil Rights advocate.

The change in name comes after the school division’s renaming of J.E.B. Stuart High School in 2017 to Justice High School and the Prince William County School Board’s recent decision to change the name of Stonewall Jackson High School to Unity-Reed High School.

Following the change in name in Fairfax, a statue of Lee was removed from the Virginia Capitol Building late on Thursday night along with several busts commemorating Confederate leaders.

“Virginia has a story to tell that extends far beyond glorifying the Confederacy and its participants,” said Virginia House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax), who oversaw the removal of the memorials. “The Confederacy’s primary objective in the Civil War was to preserve an ideology that maintained the enslavement of human beings. Now is the time to provide context to our Capitol to truly tell the Commonwealth’s whole history.”

Virginia has a story to tell that extends far beyond glorifying the Confederacy, whose primary objective in the Civil War was to preserve an ideology that maintained the enslavement of human beings. It is time for our Capitol to truly reflect our history. pic.twitter.com/GlNy0VeoTM

— Eileen Filler-Corn (@EFillerCorn) July 24, 2020

 According to the Virginia Constitution, Filler-Corn has the authority to remove artifacts from the State Capitol in her position as Speaker of the House of Delegates.

Additionally, Governor Ralph Northam announced on Friday morning a unanimous vote by the Commission for Historical Statues in the United States Capitol recommending the removal of the statue of Lee from National Statuary Hall.

“The Robert E. Lee statue does not tell our full and true story, and it has never represented all Virginians,” said Northam. “I commend the Commission’s righteous decision to remove this relic from the halls of Congress and replace it with a new statue that embodies the inclusive Commonwealth we aspire to be.”

The commission is also responsible for making a recommendation for a statue to replace Lee’s in the United States Capitol Building. They are required to hold at least one public hearing before making such a recommendation. 

The removal of statues in the Virginia Capitol Building and the recommendation to remove Lee’s statue in the United States Capitol along with the rename of the high school in Fairfax County all come at a time where the Commonwealth of Virginia and the entire nation are facing conflict over the removal of Confederate statues and monuments.