On Sunday, the American Museum of Natural History in New York revealed news that activists had been waiting years to hear: a monument to Theodore Roosevelt, a former United States president … A sort of robe that leaves the figure more exposed. The artist was very competent and knew how to show Roosevelt as the powerful figure, by putting everybody else in his wake. The museum has decided to remove the statue. The equestrian statue depicts Theodore Roosevelt on horseback. “Simply put, the time has come to move it.”. Who else in America was doing that? Last year, the Museum opened Addressing the Statue, an exhibition about the history of the Statue and contemporary reactions to it. Sitemap I think it’s better to expand the people that are being honored in our public spaces. Roosevelt’s father was one of the Museum’s founders, and the Museum is proud of its historic association with the Roosevelt family. “The American Museum of Natural History has asked to remove the Theodore Roosevelt statue because it explicitly depicts Black and Indigenous people as subjugated and racially inferior.” However, the news has been publically condemned by the President, Donald Trump. DAVID HURST THOMAS (CURATOR OF ANTHROPOLOGY, AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY): Statues are powerful things and we're taking a hard look at our history and how do we deal with that? American Museum of Natural History And how should we view this historic sculpture today? When you read some of his writings you cringe because it has such a feeling of white supremacy. And when you do, you see this kind of heroic figure on top of the horse. MONIQUE RENEE SCOTT: Museums should not simplify stories, we should complicate them. 4,991 The American Museum of Natural History in New York City will remove a statue of former president Theodore Roosevelt from outside its main … Like the horse has been tamed, the Native American, the indigenous populations had been tamed. And the entire group, not just Roosevelt, was intended to be heroic. DEVYN COLTER-LAFOREY (NEW YORK CITY STUDENT):  When I started to look at the statue, I was just paying attention to the horse. The statue of President Teddy Roosevelt at the entrance to the Museum of Natural History in Manhattan will be removed amid widespread protests over racial inequality and … We believe that the Statue should no longer remain and have requested that it be moved. Equestrian Statue of Theodore Roosevelt is a 1939 bronze sculpture by James Earle Fraser. GREG (MUSEUM VISITOR): It could be seen as a friendship. DAVID HURST THOMAS: The state of New York wanted to memorialize T.R. A statue of Theodore Roosevelt on horseback flanked by a Native American man, left, and an African man, right, sits in front of the American Museum of … I see colonial power. It is located on public park land at the American Museum of Natural History, New York City. The Commission did not reach consensus on the Statue, and the City directed that it should stay in place with additional interpretation and context to be provided by the Museum. We know he represented the continent of Africa. The Equestrian Statue that sits on New York City public park land in front of the Museum’s Central Park West entrance is part of the New York State memorial to Theodore Roosevelt, who served as Governor of New York State before becoming the 26th President of the United States. The museum — which is privately run but sits on public land — requested the statue be moved and the city agreed, according to the report. 149,427, © 2020 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved MABEL O. WILSON: Now that our politics are becoming more diverse, people are asking, can we have different representations of people and events in histories? The Natural History Museum in New York will remove a controversial statue from its entrance, a review of Kimberly Drew's new book, and more. MABEL O. WILSON: I would absolutely call Theodore Roosevelt a racist. Download the Mayoral Advisory Commission’s Report About the Statue. And today these voices are intensifying. New York, NY 10024-5102 Privacy Notice DAVID THOMAS: I’ve been here for parts of five decades, and every one of those decades we’ve had protest against the TR statue. NARRATOR: Architect John Russell Pope won a competition to design the memorial at the Museum, consisting of a new building, murals and other works of art. “The American Museum of Natural History has asked to remove the Theodore Roosevelt statue because it explicitly depicts Black and Indigenous … “The American Museum of Natural History has asked to remove the Theodore Roosevelt statue because it explicitly depicts Black and Indigenous people as subjugated and racially inferior,” de Blasio said in a statement. At the time he was a larger than life adventure hero type of figure. The Teddy Roosevelt statue is outside of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, but still. City officials have agreed to a request by the American Museum of Natural History to remove a statue of Theodore Roosevelt that stands in front of the museum… I think it would be a long overdue act of racial healing in this city. RAYMOND (MUSEUM VISITOR): It looks good right in front of the museum also. June 21, 2020 | 5:42pm | Updated June 28, 2020 | 3:58pm. 427,123, This story has been shared 163,810 times. The statue is of Roosevelt on a horse with a Native American and black man on both sides. The political reality is that that statue is where it is because that's where the state of New York wanted it. The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH), on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City, is one of the largest [clarification needed] [citation needed] natural history museums in the world. PROTESTOR: Show me what democracy looks like. But the Commission was unable to come to a consensus on what to do about the Roosevelt statue. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! as one of the great New Yorkers. Your California Privacy Rights While that particular Columbus statue remains intact, others of the Italian in Richmond, Va., and Boston, Mass., weren’t so lucky. Because they don’t seem like free men. Our charter was signed in 1869 in his father's parlor. PHILIP DELORIA: The African figure is conjectural, in a way. We’re the symbols of primitivism, we’re symbols of nature. 9 things to know about Malik Beasley's estranged wife. Read the full 6/21/20 statement from the Museum. It’s a space of contestation. There's the Rough Rider legacy of him on San Juan Hill that makes him a war hero. As part of a national conversation about problematic public monuments, and following the report of the Mayor’s Advisory Commission on City Art, Monuments, and Markers, the Museum is providing new context and perspectives, presenting the history and rationale for the statue while explicitly acknowledging its troubling aspects. MONIQUE RENEE SCOTT (DIRECTOR OF MUSEUM STUDIES, BRYN MAWR, CONSULTING SCHOLAR, PENN MUSEUM): It represents a racial hierarchy. Sculptor James Earle Fraser was chosen to execute Pope’s vision of the statue, which was unveiled in 1940. JOHN (MUSEUM VISITOR): First impressions of the statue are that it’s a magnificent piece of work, and that it's massive. People referred to this figure as an African American—that’s totally impossible. So I mean that's the power of sculpture, says the sculptor. ALEXANDRIA (MUSEUM VISITOR): It’s a reminder of this country’s history and what we don’t want to talk about. ANDREW ROSS: Roosevelt was seen as a champion of conservationist science. We also have watched as the attention of the world and the country has increasingly turned to statues and monuments as powerful and hurtful symbols of systemic racism. The City determined that the Roosevelt statue would remain in place but that more information should be provided. 200 Central Park West No, I would put a dinosaur over here. The allegorical figures and these are Fraser’s words, may stand for “Roosevelt’s friendliness to all races.” The figures represent the continents on which he hunted, as either gun bearers or guides or both. In this Nov. 17, 2017 file photo, visitors to the American Museum of Natural History in New York look at a statue of Theodore Roosevelt, flanked by … It’s a composite of many tribes. I mean he’s holding the horse, it’s reined. Heidi Klum says daughter Leni, 16, is now interested in modeling, Khloé Kardashian poses naked to launch Good American shoes, Helena Christensen stars in Victoria’s Secret campaign 24 years after runway debut, Noah Cyrus apologizes for using racially offensive term to defend Harry Styles, Justin Bieber slams fan who asked Selena Gomez fans to bully Hailey Baldwin, © 2020 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Trump bans oil drilling off coast of Southern states, likens himself to Teddy Roosevelt, Meet the people who are buying America's rejected statues, Protesters rally to save museum's Teddy Roosevelt statue, Monument of women's rights pioneers coming to Central Park this summer, NYC restaurants are bracing for street chaos on Election Day, How the coronavirus pandemic has changed NYC for the better, Le Creuset takes up to 50 percent off cookware for Cyber Week sale, Dawn Levy is helping NY Post readers stay cozy with an exclusive sale, 18 Christmas face masks to get you in the holiday spirit for 2020, Asus VivoBook 15 laptop discounted for special Amazon deal, These bestselling vibration plates are an extra 15% off—and Amazon reviewers love them, Who is Montana Yao? He wouldn't be the first that would come to mind. JEREMY (MUSEUM VISITOR): I think I would move it inside the museum and put something else here. NARRATOR: The American Museum of Natural History was also involved in this misguided movement, hosting two conferences with displays in the 1920s and 1930s. The statue has been criticized — and defaced — in the past for glorifying colonialism and racism. Phone: 212-769-5100. The Jefferson and Roosevelt statues aren’t the only two historic sculptures under the microscope in New York City. From 2017 to 2018, the Mayoral Advisory Commission on City Art, Monuments, and Markers considered whether to remove the Statue along with two other New York City monuments and one historical marker. And monuments and markers in the United States, I think, can speak to those multiple histories. In October 2017, amid a national spate of statue vandalizations following the violence sparked by white supremacist groups in Charlottesville, Va., somebody splashed the bronze statue with red paint. The Mayor decided the statue would remain with additional context, and the possibility of adding new works of art. And then there’s the two figures, which I think many people miss. It has acquired that reputation as being a monument to racial supremacy. At the same time, the statue itself communicates a racial hierarchy that the Museum and members of the public have long found disturbing. The conquest of the African continent was also about sort of taming the savage, right? Most pass by a controversial statue memorializing former Governor of New York and US President Theodore Roosevelt. The Statue has long been controversial because of the hierarchical composition that places one figure on horseback and the others walking alongside, and many of us find its depictions of the Native American and African figures and their placement in the monument racist. If we see it in the historical context and we see the two standing figures as having allegorical content, both representing continents and representing figures who would have assisted Roosevelt on his hunt, then we see it in a different context. You really have to be standing in the park across the street to actually get much perspective. That is the role of public space. Teddy Roosevelt, as we’ve come to know him and love him with a bandana and his Rough Rider kind of gear. They often become, because it’s public space, sites of protest, places to rally, places to celebrate. The statue of President Teddy Roosevelt at the entrance to the Museum of Natural History in Manhattan will be removed amid widespread protests over racial inequality and police brutality in the United States, the New York Times reported Sunday. I thought it should be removed elsewhere on grounds, not be removed entirely, but moved elsewhere and then contextualized. Earlier this month, the one in Virginia was dismantled and chucked in a lake, while the Boston statue was beheaded amid ongoing protests. There’s something that’s itchy about the statue, that rubs us the wrong way, that’s just not quite right. “We have watched as the attention of the world and the country has increasingly turned to statues as powerful and hurtful symbols of systemic racism,” she added. These were complicated figures. It made sense to the Museum of Natural History because the Roosevelts had such a great history here. Conservationism gave us our national park system and Roosevelt's probably best remembered for that. PHILIP DELORIA (DAKOTA DESCENT, PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY): It’s hard to get perspective on the statue. To understand the statue, we must recognize our country’s enduring legacy of racial discrimination—as well as Roosevelt’s troubling views on race. JOHN (MUSEUM VISITOR): Leave it as it is, and let it you know let it represent the time that it was made and we know better now. NARRATOR: In 2017, the Mayor of New York formed a Commission to examine troubling monuments throughout the city. We've received your submission. Over the last few weeks, our Museum community has been profoundly moved by the ever-widening movement for racial justice that has emerged after the killing of George Floyd. For more than a dozen years, Marion Reid, 77, had walked past the statue of Theodore Roosevelt on his way to work in information technology at the American Museum of … So the Indian figure is known in that sense. June 2020 update: The Museum has requested that the Equestrian Statue be moved. Thanks for contacting us. Terms of Use Visit the NYC institution dedicated to exploring human cultures, the natural world, and the known universe. SOKARI DOUGLAS CAMP: I think it's wonderful that there is a conversation about what we're seeing because there are so many different views now. Such an effort does not excuse the past but it can create a foundation for honest, respectful, open dialogue. I don’t know. And, in honor of Theodore Roosevelt’s role as a leading conservationist, the Museum’s Hall of Biodiversity will be named for him. DOUGLAS BRINKLEY: He is our great conservation president. A statue of former President Theodore Roosevelt outside the American Museum of Natural History in New York is being moved. This is what democracy looks like. But the placement of the statue, the existence of the monument, the dialogue that it generates with the public, combined with the colonial framing of the museum itself, is what makes it distinctive. "The American Museum of Natural History has asked to remove the Theodore Roosevelt statue because it explicitly depicts Black and Indigenous people as subjugated and racially inferior," de Blasio said in a statement. This Indian figure on one side and African figure on the other. ANDREW ROSS: I would remove it from public view. Your Ad Choices This story has been shared 427,123 times. The savage beast. NILES (MUSEUM VISITOR): I’d leave it up for sure. “The City supports the Museum’s request. That’s how we would see it today. Not a single history, but multiple histories. The Museum is open! Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. It’s sort of not known. To see that representation, and to understand that the representation has had all kinds of consequences, it’s not a pleasant experience. “Over the last few weeks, our museum community has been profoundly moved by the ever-widening movement for racial justice that has emerged after the killing of George Floyd,” the museum’s president, Ellen Futter, told the Times. Roosevelt was very much a part of that debate around whether or not you could actually breed better humans. But we need to talk about it. We hope this exhibition, together with other efforts to address cultural representation at the Museum, will inspire such discussion. Roosevelt’s father was one of the Museum’s founders, and the Museum is proud of its historic association with the Roosevelt family. This story has been shared 163,810 times. In 2017, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio established a commission to evaluate a number of controversial monuments around the city, including the Roosevelt statue, which sits on city-owned land. DEVYN LAFOREY-COLTER: I don’t feel offended by the statue, I feel like they did something wrong with the statue. SCOTT MANNING STEVENS (AKWESASNE MOHAWK, PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH AND NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES & INDIGENOUS STUDIES, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY): He was a blue-blood kid from an aristocratic New York family who goes on to live rough on the range as a kind of cowboy. And he invited Booker T. Washington to the White House and this created a huge outrage. Most people don't know that a lot of these national parks were made possible by the evacuation of indigenous populations. And that was the narrative that was communicated to me. The American Museum of Natural History announced Sunday that the iconic Equestrian Statue of Teddy Roosevelt, which has stood in front of the museum for 80 years, would be removed. NARRATOR: After Roosevelt died in 1919, the state of New York set out to create a memorial to honor him as a “nature lover, explorer and author of natural history. The Indian figure has detail on it, the blanket, it has a beautiful medallion, the headdress has some detail in it. Reserve your timed-entry tickets today, or donate to help the Museum's relief and recovery efforts. Last night, I walked by the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and noticed the statue of Theodore Roosevelt was surrounded by police … [TITLE: PERSPECTIVES ON THE EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT]. A statue of Theodore Roosevelt outside the American Museum of Natural History in New York City that has been criticized for symbolizing colonialism and … As we strive to advance our institution’s, our City’s, and our country’s passionate quest for racial justice, we believe that removing the Statue will be a symbol of progress and of our commitment to build and sustain an inclusive and equitable Museum community and broader society. ALEXANDRIA (MUSEUM VISITOR): I know it hurts a lot of my people in particular, it hurts a lot of minorities in general. It is the right decision and the right time to remove this problematic statue." The statue, depicting the former president on horseback while flanked by a Native American man and a black man, has stood at the museum’s entrance since 1940. So you couldn’t call him a friend of the Indian. [CHAPTER TITLE:  THE MAKING OF THE STATUE]. American Museum of Natural History to Remove Theodore Roosevelt Statue The memorial depicts Roosevelt on a horse, with a Native American man and a Black man on either side. MABEL O. WILSON: Here was Theodore Roosevelt, great American figure, stalwart, riding on his horse. Teddy Roosevelt deserves to be memorialized for his contributions to conservation. That of course looks extremely prejudicial. This story has been shared 427,123 times. The planned departure of the Roosevelt sculpture came as some City Council members asked Mayor Bill de Blasio last week to remove the statue of Thomas Jefferson from City Hall on the grounds that he “fathered as many as six children with a woman he enslaved.”. Should this be in the front of the museum? got hammered for this. HARRIET F. SENIE (DIRECTOR, MA ART HISTORY, ART MUSEUM STUDIES, THE CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK): Pope specified an equestrian monument, Roosevelt on the horse and two figures standing next to him. His views on race come out of his class position, come from a certain moment where that particular class had an extraordinary amount of wealth and power at the turn of the 20th century. I don't think it deserves to really occupy that prominent position any longer. HARRIET F. SENIE: The standing figures were taken to somehow be lesser than Roosevelt, because he’s on the horse and they’re standing on the ground. Open 10 am-5:30 pm, Wednesday-Sunday. The bronze statue that has stood at the museum's Central Park West entrance since 1940 depicts Roosevelt on horseback with a Native American man and an African man standing next to … SOKARI DOUGLAS CAMP: I think that their faces are dignified, but at what cost? NARRATOR: People have protested the statue for decades. We are proud of that work, which helped advance our and the public’s understanding of the Statue and its history and promoted dialogue about important issues of race and cultural representation, but in the current moment, it is abundantly clear that this approach is not sufficient. We recognize that more work is needed to better understand not only the Statue, but our own history. We should also acknowledge his race politics. GERRY (MUSEUM VISITOR): I don’t know if it necessarily needs to be taken down, because if we if we take it down, then we erase what happened. Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, Mayor’s Advisory Commission on City Art, Monuments, and Markers. HARRIET F. SENIE: I, personally, would be opposed to removing things. Do Not Sell My Personal Information, Your California Privacy Rights The bronze statue that has stood at the museum's Central Park West entrance since 1940 depicts Roosevelt on horseback with a Native American … But there’s always an aesthetics to race. NIGEL (MUSEUM VISITOR): Should this be on the main street? MABEL O. WILSON: I think Fraser as a sculptor meant to depict them in a very sympathetic way, with dignity. Someone was seen around the … The statue was meant to celebrate Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) as a devoted naturalist and author of works on natural history. And I think the conversation can change because of education and what we hope for in the future. You don’t see the “cigar store Indian” as they were called, you don’t see you know, the comic African with the bone in his nose. MABEL O. WILSON: I voted to remove the statue. ANDREW ROSS (DIRECTOR OF AMERICAN STUDIES PROGRAM, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, : When I look at the statue, I do see a commentary about white supremacy. During his tenure in office, he saved over 234 million acres of wild America—places like the Grand Canyon, Muir Woods. DANA LAFOREY (NEW YORK CITY RESIDENT): Maybe the intention had been to make awareness of Native Americans and Africans but it just came off all wrong. OLIVIA (MUSEUM VISITOR): They’re still a part of history. PHILIP DELORIA: For an American Indian person looking at the monument, there's an experience of pain that comes with it. It was unveiled to the public in 1940, as part of a larger New York State memorial to former N.Y. governor and U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. TOM (MUSEUM VISITOR): The fact that the African is naked or practically naked, we’re calling them a primitive society. This field’s called eugenics which also became very popular. The statue at the Central Park West entrance depicts Roosevelt on a horse flanked by racist caricatures of Indigenous people on foot walking alongside him. This project seeks to provide visitors with greater context for the statue by presenting the intention of the original planning commission as well as the intentions of the architect who designed the memorial and the sculptor who created the statue; the ways in which the statue is interpreted today; and multiple perspectives on how the statue might be addressed in the future. Yes, he was a naturalist, yes, he was kind of explorer, but he was also the president. NEW YORK: The American Museum of Natural History will remove a prominent statue of Theodore Roosevelt from its entrance after years of objections that it symbolises colonial expansion and racial discrimination, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday. There is a kind of freedom of interpretation, because it represents more than a single portrait. Let’s think about, sort of, ways in which we commemorate, but also look to the future. The Museum will remain the site of New York State’s official memorial to Theodore Roosevelt. It’s not right. Barricades surround the steps and the statue outside the American Museum of Natural HIstory on June 18, 2020 Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock And then there were those that you didn’t want to mate with. Red paint was splashed at the statue of Theodore Roosevelt on the steps of the American Museum of Natural History early Thursday, according to cops. PHILIP DELORIA: It’s not an attack on the legacy of Roosevelt, but it is a request that we think about what we put on display in light of what we do and how we think and how we feel in the present moment. The Equestrian Statue of Theodore Roosevelt was commissioned in 1925 to stand on the steps of the Museum, on city-owned property. SCOTT MANNING STEVENS: I'm not inclined to tear things down because I really sincerely believe it erases history, and history is hard and unpleasant. PHILIP DELORIA: Roosevelt says something like this, I’m not gonna go so far as to say that the only good Indian is a dead Indian but in nine of ten cases, I believe that to be the case, and in the tenth case, well, you know. We must also acknowledge the Museum’s own imperfect history. SOKARI DOUGLAS CAMP (SCULPTOR): The positive aspect of the statue is that it's done with great skill. DOUGLAS BRINKLEY: You have to look at people at their time period and Theodore Roosevelt, 1901 to 1909, if you’re comparing him, he was quite enlightened. But then I started paying attention to the people and I was like, oh, like, there is one person at the top and then the other two are at the bottom. It shows a portrait of somebody feeling that tribal people of Africa are not very high on his Darwinian scale.
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