Emancipation Group: Boston statue of an enslaved man kneeling before Lincoln is removed

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“We are glad we removed it this morning,” a spokeswoman for Mayor Marty Walsh said in a statement to CNN.

“As many have pointed out during the public trial this year, we are in full agreement that the statue should be moved to a new, publicly accessible location where the history and context can be better explained,” said the spokeswoman. “The removal decision recognizes the statue’s role in perpetuating harmful prejudice and in obscuring the role of black Americans in shaping the country’s struggle for freedom.”

Walsh’s office said the statue was being moved to a storage facility until a new location was selected.

The removal comes after months of a nationwide movement to remove Confederate symbols and other statues considered racist by today’s standards.
Boston to remove the statue depicting a freed slave kneeling before President Lincoln
The statue is a replica of a statue in Washington, DC, and it has been controversial since its installation in 1876 for the way it depicts the freed slave. It shows President Lincoln in a suit over a partially clothed former slave rising from broken shackles, according to the Boston Arts and Culture website.

The Boston replica was installed in 1879. According to the Arts and Culture website, it was donated by Moses Kimball, a politician and founder of the Boston Museum.

The image was based on a photo of Archer Alexander, a formerly enslaved man who “helped the Union army before seeking freedom for himself and his family,” according to the city’s website. Alexander was recaptured several times under the Fugitive Slave Act.

The bronze statue was meant to celebrate the emancipation of slaves, but some see it as submission to Lincoln or a display of white dominance, according to the Harvard Library.

While the statue has always been criticized, it was a local petition started in June that once again expressed interest in its removal.

Tory Bullock, Boston-based actor and activist, started the petition, according to the city’s website. It had more than 12,000 signatures in favor of the removal.
“It’s a great funeral, I’m here to give a silent eulogy for this artwork that has been here for 141 years,” Bullock told CNN affiliate WBZ when the statue was removed.

“I’m proud, I’m black and I’m young,” said Bullock. “This image has done a lot of disservice to African Americans in Boston and now it ends.”

A series of short-term virtual panel discussions and art installations this winter will look at “examining and reshaping our cultural symbols, public art and histories,” said the mayor’s spokeswoman.

The Boston Art Commission is looking for ideas on where to move the image. People can submit ideas or feedback here.

CNN’s Taylor Romine contributed to this report.

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