Philip Schuyler still stands two years later
It took many of us by surprise when Mayor Kathy Sheehan ordered that the statue of a swashbuckling Philip Schuyler be removed from its perch in front of City Hall.
At the time, nearly two years ago, the statue hadn’t been the subject of much discussion or debate. There had been no significant protests about it. Plus, Albany would seem, then and now, to have more immediate concerns.
But Sheehan, noting how the hero of the American Revolution had owned slaves, said that the statue had been on her mind for some time and that the May 2020 killing of George Floyd had prompted her to finally act.
“When you get approached by city employees who say that every time they walk by that statue they feel unwelcome, it can’t be ignored,” Sheehan said. “We’re causing pain for people.”
I wrote a column supporting the decision. If the statue is upsetting to a segment of the city, I wrote, there’s really no reason it needs to stand in front of a building that is supposed to represent everybody.
That was not, I can assure you, an especially popular column. Indeed, Sheehan’s decision provoked a range of objections, including many that were both rational and valid. (Not all were, mind you.)
Some argued that removing the Schuyler statue was akin to erasing American history and ignoring its complex counter-currents.
“Schuyler was not perfect, but he and the women and men who struggled with him laid the foundation of our freedom in a time of darkness and oppression,” wrote W. Pless Lunger of The American Revolution Institute. “The statue is a symbol of the struggle for freedom — an imperfect struggle in the 18th century and an imperfect one in our time as well.”
And where, some asked, would the cleansing end? Would the name of, say, Washington Park also have to go?
Others argued that Sheehan should have solicited community input before making such a decision. How could we know, this argument went, that a significant portion of the city wanted the statue removed if residents hadn’t even been asked?
I don’t know if any of the objections resonated with Sheehan or caused her to have second thoughts. (Her office did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.) But one thing is obvious: The statue is still standing.
And while the city has been working with the Underground Railroad Education Center to develop a plan for the statue, removing it has hardly seemed a priority since the announcement two years ago.
“If Sheehan really wanted it down, it would be down already,” said Derek Johnson, who represents the South End on the Albany Common Council. “It was hot air.”
Johnson supports removing the statue and argues that the mayor is breaking a promise to the Black community by not moving to take it down with more alacrity.
“When? That’s the question,” he said. “When are you going to take the Schuyler statue down? Because we’re waiting.”
In fairness, Sheehan never promised that the statue would come down quickly. The mayor said from the start that she wanted to have a plan in place for the statue’s relocation before it moved. Where, then, might it go?
Well, the Schuyler Mansion in the South End is probably the most obvious location. But the Colonie Historical Society has floated relocating the statue to Schuyler’s grave at the Albany Rural Cemetery, and it would be welcomed in Schuylerville, up in Saratoga County.
“There’s so much more to Schuyler than slavery,” Dan Carpenter, mayor of the village, has said.
As I wrote in that prior column, there’s an important distinction to be made between the Schuyler statue and those celebrating heroes of the Confederacy.
Schuyler was honored in Albany despite his owning slaves, while the men of the Confederacy were honored because they never wanted slavery to end. Schuyler helped build a country that advanced the cause of freedom, however imperfectly, while those who fought for the Confederacy sought to divide it.
It’s perhaps worth mentioning that regardless of what happens with the Schuyler statue, Albany could be doing much more to honor the many notable figures from its significant Black history. The city could be adding historical acknowledgments, instead of just removing them.
Albany resident Mike Volkman has suggested that the convergence of Washington Avenue, State Street and Eagle Street be named Adam Blake Jr. Square in homage to the 19th-century Black entrepreneur who owned the Kenmore Hotel and the Congress Hall Hotel, which was demolished to build the Capitol.
I have to say, there would be something wonderful, and fully Albany, about the statue of Philip Schuyler standing alongside a space named to honor a man whose freedom and accomplishments were a rebuke to slavery’s chains.