“Norton Kicks Off Black History Month by Introducing Bill to Remove Emancipation Statue from Lincoln Park”

Photo by James0806

From the office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton:

“Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today kicked off Black History Month by reintroducing her bill that would remove the Emancipation Statue from Lincoln Park in the District of Columbia, a federal park, citing its problematic depiction of the fight to achieve emancipation. The statue would be placed in a museum with an explanation of its origin and meaning.

“Although formerly enslaved Americans paid for this statue, the design and sculpting process was done without their input or participation, and it shows,” Norton said. “The statue fails to depict how enslaved African Americans pressed for their own emancipation. At the time, they had only recently been liberated from slavery and were grateful for any recognition of their freedom. However, in his keynote address at the unveiling of the statue, Frederick Douglass pointedly did not praise the statue, and, indeed, in private remarks, went as far as to say, it ‘showed the negro on his knee when a more manly attitude would have been indicative of freedom.’

“Boston removed its replica of the statue in favor of placing it in a publicly accessible location where it can be better contextualized. It is time for Congress to place the original statue in a museum, too.”

The Emancipation Statue was dedicated on April 14, 1876, the 11th anniversary of President Lincoln’s assassination. The statue originally faced the Capitol, with a direct line of vision to the nation’s most powerful building. But when a statue celebrating African American educator Mary McLeod Bethune was erected in the eastern half of Lincoln Park, in 1974, the Emancipation Statue was rotated 180 degrees so the two statues would face each other.

Norton’s introductory statement follows.

Statement of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton
On the Introduction of the Emancipation Statue Removal Act
February 1, 2023

Ms. Norton. Mr. Speaker.

Today, I rise to introduce the Emancipation Statue Removal Act, which would remove the Emancipation Statue from Lincoln Park, a federal park in the District of Columbia, and require the Secretary of the Interior to donate the statue to a museum or similar entity. This bill is part of a series of statue and memorial removal bills I am introducing during Black History Month.

The Emancipation Statue was dedicated on April 14, 1876, the 11th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Although formerly enslaved Americans paid for this statue, it was designed and sculpted without their input, and it shows. The paternalistic statue depicting a Black man on his knees in front of President Lincoln fails to recognize African Americans’ agency in pressing for their own emancipation.

Understandably, recently liberated African Americans during the Reconstruction era were grateful for any recognition of their freedom in a country where they still experienced virtually total exclusion from American life. However, even at the time of its unveiling, prominent Black Americans expressed their displeasure with the statue’s design, including Frederick Douglass. During his keynote address at the statue’s unveiling, Douglass pointedly did not praise the statue. Rather, in a letter to the editor of the National Republican a few days after the unveiling, Douglass expressed his dismay at the statue: “The negro here, though rising, is still on his knees and nude. What I want to see before I die is a monument representing the negro, not couchant on his knees like a four-footed animal, but erect on his feet like a man.”

In 2020, Boston removed its replica of the statue and plans to place it in a publicly accessible location where it can be better contextualized. It is time for Congress to place the original statue in a museum, too.

I strongly urge my colleagues to support this legislation.”