Emancipation group: Boston statue depicting a slave man kneeling before Lincoln retires

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“We are pleased to have him removed this morning,” a spokeswoman for the mayor, Marty Walsh, said in a statement to CNN.

“As so many expressed during this year’s public trial, we fully agree that the statue should be moved to a new publicly accessible location, where its history and context can be better explained.” said the spokeswoman. “The withdrawal decision recognizes the role of the statue in perpetuating harmful prejudices and obscuring the role of black Americans in shaping the nation’s struggle for freedom.”

Walsh’s office said the statue was moved to a warehouse until a new location was selected.

The elimination comes after months of a national movement to remove Confederate symbols and other statues that have been deemed racist by current standards.
Boston will remove the statue depicting the freed slave kneeling before President Lincoln
The statue is a replica of it in Washington, DC, and has been controversial since its installation in 1876 for how it portrays the freed slave. According to the Boston Arts and Culture website, it shows President Lincoln in a suit perched on top of a partially dressed former slave who rises from the broken shackles.

The Boston replica was installed in 1879. It was donated by Moses Kimball, a politician and founder of the Boston Museum, according to the Arts and Culture website.

The statue was based on a photograph of Archer Alexander, a former slave man who “helped the Union Army before seeking freedom for him and his family,” according to the city’s website. Alexander was recovered several times under the Fugitive Slave Act.

The bronze statue was intended to celebrate the emancipation of slaves, but some perceive it as submitting to Lincoln or a white-domain display, according to the Harvard Library.

Although the statue has always been criticized, it was a local petition initiated in June that renewed interest in its removal.

Boston area actor and activist Tory Bullock initiated the petition, according to the city’s website. He had more than 12,000 signatures in favor of the withdrawal.
“It’s an amazing funeral, I’m here to offer a silent praise of this 141-year-old work of art that’s been here,” Bullock told CNN affiliate WBZ as the statue was removed.

“I’m proud, I’m black and I’m young,” Bullock said. “This image has been doing a lot of harm to African Americans in Boston and now it’s stopping.”

A series of virtual roundtables and short-term art installations this winter will address “examining and reinventing our cultural symbols, public art and stories,” the mayor’s spokeswoman said.

The Boston Art Commission is looking for ideas on where to move the statue. People can post ideas or comments here.

CNN’s Taylor Romine contributed to this report.

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