Boston architect recognized for leadership on controversial Lincoln statue
By Grace Griffin Globe Correspondent,Updated January 1, 2021, 2:00 p.m.
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Mark Pasnik led the Boston Arts Commission to rethink Emancipation Group and other problematic monuments.SAM ROSENHOLTZ (Custom credit)
A statue of a formerly enslaved man named Alexander Archer kneeling at the foot of President Abraham Lincoln was removed Tuesday from downtown Boston. The monument, titled âEmancipation Group,â has long drawn the ire of community members for its racist imagery.
Mark Pasnik, chair of the Boston Arts Commission, was honored by Out Magazine in October for his leadership regarding âEmancipation Groupâ and other public artworks in the city. The architect and educator made the magazineâs 26th annual Out100 list honoring influential members of the LGBTQ community. Other Massachusetts residents to make the list include chef Melissa King and journalist Rachel Maddow
Workers dismantled a statue of Abraham Lincoln in Boston Tuesday, after the city agreed with protesters who say the memorial is demeaning and lacks proper
By Ryan Shepard
Dec 29, 2020
Boston officials have officially removed The Emancipation Statue from Boston Common. The statue depicted a slave kneeling before former President
Abraham Lincoln.
“A race set free and the country at peace. Lincoln rests from his labors, an inscribed phrase on the statue once read.
The Emancipation Statue was inspired by the story of
Archer Alexander, a Black man who escaped slavery and enlisted in the Union Army. Alexander became the last man to be recaptured under The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
For years, the imagery of an enslaved Black citizen kneeling before a white man had raised concerns with many. Led by artist