Abraham Lincoln Statue Removed by Boston Commission
Workers took down the statue from Park Square early Tuesday.
The statue was a replica of the one that sits in Washington. It was erected to commemorate Lincoln and his role in freeing slaves through the Emancipation Proclamation.
Ekua Holmes, vice-chair of the Boston Art Commission, said in a statement at the time that community members testified during a meeting that “it hurts to look at this piece.”
“After engaging in a public process, it’s clear that residents and visitors to Boston have been uncomfortable with this statue, and its reductive representation of the black man’s role in the abolitionist movement,” added Mayor Marty Walsh, a Democrat.
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