Statue of freed slave kneeling at Lincoln s feet in Boston erected in 1879 to mark the Emancipation Proclamation is removed after petition called for it to be removed
Workers removed the Emancipation Memorial early Tuesday from a park just off Boston Common where it had stood since 1879
It is a replica of the Freedmen s Memorial in Washington DC erected in 1876 to commemorate the Emancipation Proclamation and honor Lincoln
Some said the monument showed a newly freed shirtless man rising to his feet while shaking off the broken shackles on his wrists
Critics perceived it as the former slave kneeling before his white emancipator
A statue of Abraham Lincoln with a freed slave appearing to kneel at his feet optics that drew objections amid a national reckoning with racial injustice has been removed from its perch in downtown Boston.
Workers removed the Emancipation Memorial, also known as the Emancipation Group and the Freedman’s Memorial, early Tuesday from a park just off Boston Common where it had stood since 1879.
City officials had agreed in late June to take down the memorial after complaints and a bitter debate over the design. Mayor Marty Walsh acknowledged at the time that the statue made residents and visitors alike “uncomfortable.”
William J. Kole
FILE - In this June 25, 2020, file photo, a statue that depicts a freed slave kneeling at President Abraham Lincoln s feet rests on a pedestal in Boston. On Tuesday, Dec. 29, the statue that drew objections amid a national reckoning with racial injustice was removed from its perch. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File) December 29, 2020 - 11:01 AM
A statue of Abraham Lincoln with a freed slave appearing to kneel at his feet â optics that drew objections amid a national reckoning with racial injustice â has been removed from its perch in downtown Boston.
Workers removed the Emancipation Memorial, also known as the Emancipation Group and the Freedmanâs Memorial, early Tuesday from a park just off Boston Common where it had stood since 1879.
Boston Removes Statue of Formerly Enslaved Man Kneeling Before Lincoln
Officials voted unanimously to remove “Emancipation Group” in June, after a widespread petition and hours of debate.
“Emancipation Group” in Boston depicts the formerly enslaved Archer Alexander kneeling before President Abraham Lincoln.Credit.Michael Dwyer/Associated Press
Published Dec. 29, 2020Updated Feb. 28, 2021
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.
Fox News contributor Richard Fowler and former NRCC communications director Matt Gorman react.
A statue of Abraham Lincoln with a freed slave appearing to kneel at his feet – optics that drew objections amid a national reckoning with racial injustice – has been removed from its perch in downtown Boston.
Workers removed the Emancipation Memorial, also known as the Emancipation Group and the Freedman’s Memorial, early Tuesday from a park just off Boston Common, where it had stood since 1879.
City officials had agreed in late June to take down the memorial after complaints and a bitter debate over the design. Mayor Marty Walsh acknowledged at the time that the statue made residents and visitors alike uncomfortable.