In a decision that has been years in the making, the statue of former New York state governor and U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt that has held court outside of the American Museum of Natural History for over 80 years will finally be removed. While the decision came in June when the Public Design Commission approved its relocation, today its fate was announced: the statue will be moved to North Dakota.
According to the NY Times, the statue will be headed to Medora, N.D., "where it will eventually be displayed at the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library — located near Roosevelt’s former Badlands cattle ranches — as a long-term loan from the City of New York." The library will not be open until 2026.
The library's website reads: "The world needs Theodore Roosevelt now more than ever," its chief executive, Edward O'Keefe, said in a statement on Friday, “Museums are supposed to do hard things. Our job is to forthrightly examine history to understand the present and make a better future.”
The Roosevelt statue was defaced with red paint in 2017.
For years, The Equestrian Statue — which features African and Native American figures appearing "to hold subservient positions" to Roosevelt — has been been the site of protests. These began in the 1970s when, as we previously reported, "groups protested it while calling out TR’s aggressive foreign policy in Central America and the Caribbean, which included the occasional military intervention."
The AMNH offered no comment on the news or timeline on the removal, but have previously said the statue's composition "communicates a racial hierarchy." The Times reports the statue will likely take several months to remove, and that process will begin this year. According to a statement, "The removal of the statue will be conducted by the American Museum of Natural History in coordination with the City of New York."
Earlier this month, the PDC approved the relocation of a controversial Thomas Jefferson statue from City Hall. By the end of the year, it will be moved to the New-York Historical Society, where they plan to display it with appropriate historical context.
