A statue portraying the first successful student-led sit-in of the civil rights movement at the Wichita Dockum Drug Store was moved Wednesday.
The statue is by artist Georgia Gerber; it was located at Chester I. Lewis Reflection Square Park, east of Douglas & Main downtown. Wichita Park and Recreation is redesigning the park; the City of Wichita says the new design will commemorate Lewis’ life and accomplishments.
A final location for the statue will be announced at a later date; in the meantime, the statue will be protected in a storage facility.
Lewis is a late prominent local civil rights leader who served on the legal team that argued the landmark 1954 Brown v. Topeka Board of Education case before the U.S. Supreme Court. He also provided guidance to the NAACP Youth Council during the first successful series of student sit-ins at the Dockum Drug Store lunch counter in 1958. It inspired other similar sit-ins across the country, helping efforts for racial equality at places including restaurants, businesses, and swimming pools.
The Richard Devore family donated the sculpture to the Wichita community; it was installed 19 years ago.