Boston removes statue of formerly enslaved man kneeling before Lincoln
A statue depicting a formerly enslaved man kneeling before President Abraham Lincoln was taken down from a Boston park on Tuesday after officials this summer voted unanimously for its removal.
The bronze statue, called “Emancipation Group,” had been a fixture of Park Square in downtown Boston since 1879, but has long courted criticism for its depiction of a freed man at the feet of Lincoln.
The statue is a replica of the Emancipation Memorial in Washington, a bronze statue intended to commemorate the Emancipation Proclamation, the executive order that Lincoln signed to end slavery in the Confederacy. They were designed by Thomas Ball, a Boston native.
Calls for the removal of statues like “Emancipation Group” and the Emancipation Memorial intensified over the summer after George Floyd’s death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer sparked protests for racial justice across the country. Demonstrators rallied for the removal of public art installations that were seen by some as honoring racist historical figures.
In June, Tory Bullock, a Boston actor and artist, created an online petition that called for the removal of “Emancipation Group.” It has since garnered more than 12,000 signatures.
“I’ve been watching this man on his knees since I was a kid,” Bullock, who is Black, wrote in the petition. “It’s supposed to represent freedom but instead represents us still beneath someone else. I would always ask myself ‘If he’s free why is he still on his knees?’ No kid should have to ask themselves that question anymore.”
In June, after hours of discussion and public forums, the Boston Art Commission voted unanimously to remove the statue, the city said.
Bullock said he had heard through the grapevine that the statue would be removed on Tuesday morning.
“I feel relieved that it finally happened, because a lot of times when you’re Black and people say they’re going to do something to solve an issue that
makes you feel uncomfortable, it’s kind of like, ‘I’ll wait to see the proof in the pudding,’ ” Bullock said.
The statue will be held in
temporary storage as the city determines a “new publicly accessible location where it could be better explained,” the city said.