View source for Equestrian Statue of Theodore Roosevelt (New York City)

{{Short description|Equestrian statue by James Earle Fraser}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox artwork
| image_file = Equestrian statue of Theodore Roosevelt.jpg
| image_size         =
| title              = Equestrian Statue of Theodore Roosevelt
| alt                =
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| artist             = [[James Earle Fraser (sculptor)|James Earle Fraser]]
| year               = 1939
| type               = [[Bronze sculpture|Bronze]]
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| height_imperial    = 10
| width_imperial     = 7
| width_inch         = 2
| length_imperial    = 14
| length_inch        = 9
| metric_unit        = cm
| imperial_unit      = ft
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'''''Equestrian Statue of Theodore Roosevelt''''' is a 1939 [[bronze sculpture]] by [[James Earle Fraser (sculptor)|James Earle Fraser]].<ref>[http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=13070LH9B1624.10747&menu=search&aspect=Keyword&npp=50&ipp=20&spp=20&profile=ariall&ri=1&source=%7E%21siartinventories&index=.TW&term=equestrian+of+theodore+roosevelt&aspect=Keyword#focus "Equestrian Statue of Theodore Roosevelt, (sculpture)"]. ''SIRIS''</ref> It was located on public park land at the [[American Museum of Natural History]] in New York City. The [[equestrian statue]] depicts [[Theodore Roosevelt]] on horseback. Walking on either side of him are two men, on one side a [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] and on the other, a sub-Saharan African.
The statue has provoked increasing criticism for its hierarchical implications, and there were calls to remove it beginning in 2017. On June 21, 2020, the museum announced that it was asking city officials to remove the statue.<ref name=pogrebin/> New York Mayor [[Bill de Blasio]] supported the removal, as did Roosevelt's great-grandson, [[Theodore Roosevelt IV]], and great-great-grandson [[Kermit Roosevelt III]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Beccah |last=Hendrickson |url=https://abc7ny.com/theodore-roosevelt-statue-nyc-why-is-roosevelts-being-removed-teddy-american-museum-of-natural-history/6260686/ |publisher=ABC7 |location=New York |title=Family member of Theodore Roosevelt weighs in on statue removal: 'I think it gives the wrong message' |date=June 22, 2020 }}</ref> The [[New York City Public Design Commission]] voted unanimously on June 21, 2021, to relocate the statue.<ref name=Artnet>{{cite news |first=Eileen |last=Kinsella |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/nyc-commission-votes-unanimously-relocate-roosevelt-statue-1982664 |title=New York City Authorities Vote Unanimously to Remove Theodore Roosevelt's Statue From the Museum of Natural History's Steps |website=Artnet |date=June 23, 2021 }}</ref> The statue was removed on January 20, 2022.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Theodore Roosevelt statue removed from outside New York's Museum of Natural History|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/01/20/theodore-roosevelt-statue-new-york/|access-date=January 20, 2022|issn=0190-8286}}</ref>
==History==
It was dedicated on October 27, 1940. Cast by [[Gorham Manufacturing Company]], Providence, RI.
The inscription reads:<br>
(On rear of sculpture:) <br>
J E FRASER SC 1939 <br>
(On front of base:) <br>
THEODORE ROOSEVELT<br>
1858–1919<br>
(On left side of base:)<br>
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK<br>
1899 1901 <br>
(On right side of base:)<br>
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES<br>
1901 1909 signed
==Commission==
[[File:USA-NYC-American Museum of Natural History.JPG|thumb|right|The monument as part of the neo-classical New York State Memorial to Theodore Roosevelt]]
The sculpture was commissioned by the [[Theodore Roosevelt Association|Roosevelt Memorial Association]] in the 1930s after Fraser had delivered his design for the ''[[Arts of Peace]]'' memorial in Washington D.C., which at the time was also in competition with this memorial as the chosen location. For ''Arts of Peace'', Fraser made a pair of statues of [[Pegasus]] depicting the themes ''Music and Harvest'', and ''Aspiration and Literature''.<ref name=HETH>{{cite web | url = https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/bitstream/handle/1969.1/153983/HETH-DISSERTATION-2014.pdf | title= Imagining TR: Commemorations and Representations of Theodore Roosevelt in Twentieth-Century America | date= 2014 | first= Jennifer Dawn | last = Heth | publisher = [[Texas A&M University]] |postscript = ; }} dissertation</ref>
The statue was placed at the entrance to the museum's hall of [[diorama]]s dedicated to [[Carl Akeley]] who had accompanied Roosevelt on a year-long expedition to Africa. The sculpture and its pedestal were designed for this setting, appropriate in scale and design for the neo-classical plans of [[Henry Bacon]]'s architecture. An earlier monument by Fraser dedicated to Roosevelt in Cuba in 1924 was also designed with Henry Bacon, and they both attended its dedication in Cuba.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://lccn.loc.gov/mp76000379 |title=Dedication of Cuban Memorial, 1924. |year=1924 |number=2 |publisher=[[Theodore Roosevelt Association|Roosevelt Memorial Association]]}} [United States: s.n., 1924?] United States.] in the [[Library of Congress]]</ref>
The two walking figures have been construed as representations of continents, not individuals in a narrative, and that was common practice in public sculpture, of which London's [[Albert Memorial]] is a prominent example. At the same time, the "pyramidal composition" with Roosevelt at its apex "implies a hierarchy". One analysis of the work, after examining the careers of both Roosevelt and Fraser, concludes that "Both men evidently believed in white dominance as natural order. However, Roosevelt and Fraser also had sincere, if paternalistic, admiration for indigenous cultures and a desire to preserve images and artifacts in what was, ''for the time'', a relatively respectful manner."<ref name=marber/> Many feel the statue depicts Roosevelt, an early champion of civil rights and equality for black and Native Americans during the early 20th century, as leading minority persons in the U.S. forward towards the promises made to all under the U.S. Constitution. Roosevelt's relationship with [[Booker T. Washington]] and his appointment of [[Minnie Cox]] as the first black regional postmaster in the United States ([[Indianola, Mississippi]]) is seen as further cementing this view. Roosevelt's own comments regarding race indicated that he believed all the races were equal, but some cultures were superior due to their greater technological advances over time. The sculptor of the statue, James Earle Fraser, stated the intent with these words: "The two figures at [Roosevelt's] side are guides symbolizing the continents of Africa and America, and if you choose may stand for Roosevelt's friendliness to all races."
== Controversy ==
[[File:Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall entrance (detail).jpg|thumb|Frontal view]]
In 1999 [[James Loewen]] argued in ''Lies Across America'' that the statue was erected when the museum was openly racist, and that the arrangement of the figures is meant to advocate white supremacy.<ref name="Lies Across America">{{cite book|last=Loewen|first=James|title=Lie Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong|year=1999|publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.]]|location=New York|isbn=1-56584-344-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780965003179/page/45 45]|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780965003179/page/45}}</ref>
This statue was not otherwise the subject of public controversy in the 20th century. It was mentioned in the April 2017 [[TED talk]] ''Can Art Amend History?'' by artist and activist [[Titus Kaphar]], discussing the choice of pose showing that "Teddy Roosevelt is sitting there ...and on the left-hand side of him is a Native American walking and on the right-hand side of him is an African-American walking" as a representation of white social hierarchy in America.<ref>[https://www.ted.com/speakers/titus_kaphar Titus Kaphar] on [[TED (conference)|TED]] website</ref><ref>[https://www.npr.org/2017/11/10/562836477/titus-kaphar-how-can-we-address-centuries-of-racism-in-art Interview of Kaphar] on [[NPR]], which may have been recorded earlier and doesn't mention the vandalism</ref> After the [[Unite the Right rally]] due to the controversial removal of an equestrian statue of Robert E. Lee, this and many other statues across America also became the focus of attempts to remove what were claimed to be glorifications of America's racist past. The base of the statue was covered with red paint on the morning of October 26, 2017. A few hours later, a group admitted guilt and claimed that the statue embodied "patriarchy, white supremacy, and settler-colonialism."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/vandals-splash-red-paint-manhattan-theodore-roosevelt-statue-article-1.3590560|newspaper=[[New York Daily News]]|date=October 27, 2017|access-date=October 31, 2017|title=Vandals splash red paint on Theodore Roosevelt statue on Museum of Natural History steps|first=Thomas|last=Tracy}}</ref>
In January 2018, a commission appointed by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to review several statues on city property concluded that this statue was open to many interpretations and made no recommendation for action.<ref name=painful/> The commission's members were divided evenly. Some citing research that the standing figures are allegorical representations of the continents and noting that these figures "are in no way abject". Others emphasized how the sculpture is experienced, "that height is power in public art", an expression of "power and dominance".<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/monuments/downloads/pdf/mac-monuments-report.pdf | title = Mayoral Advisory Commission on City Art, Monuments, and Markers | date= January 2018 | pages = 25–7 }}</ref> ''The New York Times'' critic Holland Cotter found that decision disappointing: "It doesn't require a sensitivity to subtexts to see that the composition, no matter how you gloss it, is quite literally an emblem of white-man-on-top."<ref name=painful>{{cite news|title=Half-Measures Won't Erase the Painful Past of Our Monuments|first=Holland|last=Cotter|date=January 12, 2018|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=January 13, 2018|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/12/arts/design/statues-monuments-deblasio-commission.html}}</ref>
In July 2019, the Museum of Natural History mounted an exhibit devoted to the statue and contemporary interpretations called "Addressing the Statue".<ref name=press/> The presentation included many contrasting viewpoints and invited comments from visitors. David Hurst Thomas, the curator of anthropology at the museum said: "The museum is making a really explicit statement that we're big enough to stand up for our past. We're not going to cover it up. We're going to welcome dissent."<ref>{{cite news | work=The New York Times | access-date = June 22, 2020 | date = July 15, 2019 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/15/arts/design/theodore-roosevelt-statue-natural-history-museum.html | title= Angered by This Roosevelt Statue? A Museum Wants Visitors to Weigh In | first= Nancy | last = Coleman }}</ref> The exhibit included an extensive website for further exploration of the sculpture and its interpretation.<ref>{{cite web | publisher = American Museum of Natural History | access-date = June 22, 2020 | url = https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/addressing-the-theodore-roosevelt-statue | title= Addressing the Statue }}</ref> It presented comments by the sculptor and his collaborators alongside those of academics who contested what the two walking figures represent and whether Roosevelt could be described as a "racial unifier".<ref>{{cite web | publisher = [[American Museum of Natural History]] | access-date = June 22, 2020 | url = https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/addressing-the-theodore-roosevelt-statue/making-the-statue | title= What did the artists and planners intend? | page = 102 | date = 2019 }}</ref>
To provide context for those viewing the sculpture, the museum installed laminated placards at its base that said: "This statue was unveiled to the public in 1940, as part of a larger New York State memorial to former N.Y. governor and U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. Today, some see the statue as a heroic group; others, as a symbol of racial hierarchy. You can learn more about this statue inside the Museum and [online]." An article in the ''[[Columbia Journal of Law and the Arts]]'' was critical of the placards, noting they were not visible at a distance.<ref name=marber>{{cite journal | journal = [[Columbia Journal of Law & the Arts]] | access-date = June 23, 2020 | volume = 43 | pages= 94, 102 | url = https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/lawandarts/article/download/4126/1872 | first = Sinclaire Devereux |last= Marber |title= Bloody Foundation? Ethical and Legal Implications of (Not) Removing the Equestrian Statue of Theodore Roosevelt at the American Museum of Natural History }}</ref>
==Removal==
{{quote frame|align=right|width=25%|quote=The world does not need statues, relics of another age, that reflect neither the values of the person they intend to honor nor the values of equality and justice.|author=[[Theodore Roosevelt IV]]<ref name=pogrebin/>}}
On June 21, 2020, the museum announced that it would remove the statue.<ref name="artnews.com">{{cite web | title=American Natural History Museum Removes Theodore Roosevelt Statue | website=artnews.com |first =Maximiliáno | last = Durón | date=June 21, 2020 | url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/natural-history-museum-theodore-roosevelt-statue-removal-1202691772/ | access-date=June 21, 2020}}</ref> Museum president [[Ellen V. Futter]] said the decision did not reflect a judgment about Roosevelt but was driven by the sculpture's "hierarchical composition".<ref name=pogrebin/> Her statement to Museum staff said that "many of us find its depictions of the Native American and African figures and their placement in the monument racist".<ref name=press>{{cite press release | access-date = June 22, 2020 | url = https://www.amnh.org/about/press-center/amnh-requests-the-equestrian-statue-on-central-park-west-be-moved | publisher = American Museum of Natural History | date= June 21, 2020| title = AMNH Requests the Equestrian Statue on Central Park West Be Moved }}</ref> Roosevelt's great-grandson, [[Theodore Roosevelt IV]], supported the decision, saying "The world does not need statues, relics of another age, that reflect neither the values of the person they intend to honor nor the values of equality and justice."<ref name=pogrebin>{{cite news | work =The New York Times | access-date = June 21, 2020 | date = June 21, 2020 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/arts/design/roosevelt-statue-to-be-removed-from-museum-of-natural-history.html | first= Robin | last = Pogrebin | title= Roosevelt Statue to Be Removed From Museum of Natural History }}</ref> Mayor de Blasio said: "The American Museum of Natural History has asked to remove the Theodore Roosevelt statue because it explicitly depicts Black and Indigenous people as subjugated and racially inferior. The City supports the Museum's request. It is the right decision and the right time to remove this problematic statue."<ref>{{cite news | newspaper =[[The Washington Post]] | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/22/theodore-roosevelt-statue-museum/ | date= June 22, 2020 | access-date = June 22, 2020 | title = Theodore Roosevelt statue, flanked by African and Native American men, to be removed in New York | first = Meagan | last = Flynn }}</ref>
On July 12, 2020, Roosevelt's great-grandson Mark Roosevelt backed efforts to remove the statue. He said: "If we wish to live in harmony and equality with people of other races, we should not maintain paternalistic statues that depict Native Americans and African Americans in subordinate roles. The statue of Theodore Roosevelt, my great-grandfather, in front of New York's Museum of Natural History, does so, and it is good that it is being taken down."<ref name="Great_Grandson">{{cite news | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/theodore-roosevelts-great-grandson-mark-roosevelt-says-remove-the-statue/ |title=Theodore Roosevelt's great-grandson says: Remove the statue |publisher=[[CBS News]] |date=July 12, 2020|author1=Roosevelt, Mark |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717193003/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/theodore-roosevelts-great-grandson-mark-roosevelt-says-remove-the-statue/ |archivedate=July 17, 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Theodore Roosevelt Would Be The First to Agree">{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/23/theodore-roosevelt-would-be-first-agree-his-statue-should-come-down/ |title=Theodore Roosevelt Would Be The First to Agree |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |date=June 23, 2020|author1=Cullinane, Michael Patrick }}</ref>
On June 21, 2021, the New York City Public Design Commission voted unanimously to remove the statue from in front of the museum and relocate it to an institution devoted to Roosevelt's life and legacy.<ref name=Artnet/> On November 19, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation announced it would accept the statue as a long-term loan from New York City for display at the [[Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library]], scheduled to open in [[Medora, North Dakota]], in 2026. Theodore Roosevelt IV said: "It is fitting that the statue is being relocated to a place where its composition can be recontextualized to facilitate difficult, complex and inclusive discussions."<ref>{{cite news | work=[[The New York Times]] | access-date = December 26, 2021 | date = November 19, 2021 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/19/arts/design/roosevelt-statue-north-dakota.html | title = Roosevelt Statue to Head to Presidential Library in North Dakota | first = Sarah | last = Bahr }}</ref>
On January 19, 2022, the statue was removed from its location on the plaza in front of the museum.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.npr.org/2022/01/20/1074394869/roosevelt-statue-removed-natural-history-museum|title=New York City's natural history museum has removed a Theodore Roosevelt statue|publisher=[[National Public Radio]]|date=January 20, 2022|access-date=November 22, 2022|first=Rachel|last=Triesman}}</ref>
The plinth remained for some additional months, but was replaced by two plaques, one honoring Roosevelt, and one describing the reasons for the statue's removal.
The statue has been sent to North Dakota and is in storage at the location where the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library is under construction as of 2023. Future plans for the statue remain controversial.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://patch.com/new-york/upper-west-side-nyc/roosevelt-statue-should-be-melted-not-dumped-dakota-petition|newspaper=Upper West Side Patch|title=Roosevelt Statue Should Be Melted, Not Dumped In Dakota: Petition|date=March 7, 2022|access-date=November 22, 2022|first=Gus|last=Saltonstall}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.inforum.com/community/north-dakota-tribal-leaders-wary-of-roosevelt-statue-welcome-dialogue-about-display|publisher=[[WDAY-TV]]|title=North Dakota tribal leaders wary of Roosevelt statue, welcome dialogue about display|date=March 7, 2022|access-date=November 22, 2022}}</ref> There are no current plans to display the statue at the new library when it opens.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.kvrr.com/2023/07/03/theodore-roosevelt-statue-wont-be-displayed-when-library-opens-in-medora/|publisher=[[KVVR]] local news|title=Theodore Roosevelt statue won't be displayed when library opens in Medora|date=July 3, 2023|access-date=December 9, 2023}}</ref>
==Gallery==
<gallery widths="280px" heights="240px">
File:AMNH Plaza, showing plaques.jpg|The plaza in front of the American Museum of Natural History, at night. This is the location where the Equestrian Statue of Roosevelt stood.
File:Plaque about Roosevelt statue removal.jpg|Plaque describing the reasons for the removal of the statue of Roosevelt.
File:AMNH Roosevelt memorial plaque.jpg|Plaque memorializing Theodore Roosevelt, at the Roosevelt Memorial in front of the American Museum of Natural History. This plaque replaced the Equestrian Statue of Theodore Roosevelt, which stood on this spot from 1940 until 2022.
</gallery>
==See also==
{{Portal|New York City|Visual arts}}
*[[Allegorical sculpture]]
*[[Architectural sculpture]]
*[[List of sculptures of presidents of the United States]]
*[[Monument and memorial controversies in the United States]]
*[[Monumental sculpture]]
*''[[Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider]]'', 1922 equestrian statue in [[Portland, Oregon]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* [https://equestrianstatue.org/roosevelt-theodore/ Theodore Roosevelt at Equestrian Statues]
* {{Commons category-inline}}
{{James Earle Fraser}}
{{Public art in Manhattan}}
{{Theodore Roosevelt|state=collapsed}}
{{Monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests}}
[[Category:1939 establishments in New York City]]
[[Category:1939 sculptures]]
[[Category:American Museum of Natural History]]
[[Category:Sculptures of Black people]]
[[Category:Bronze sculptures in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Presidential memorials in the United States|Roosevelt]]
[[Category:Equestrian statues in New York City]]
[[Category:Monuments and memorials in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Monuments and memorials in the United States removed during the George Floyd protests]]
[[Category:Outdoor sculptures in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Personifications of continents]]
[[Category:Sculptures of Native Americans in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Statues of Theodore Roosevelt|New York City]]
[[Category:Statues removed in 2022]]
[[Category:Vandalized works of art in New York City]]
[[Category:Works by James Earle Fraser (sculptor)]]
[[Category:Sculptures of men in New York City]]