Emancipation Memorial (Boston) facts for kids

The Emancipation Memorial, also known as the Freedman's Memorial, was a monument in Park Square in Boston. It was designed by Thomas Ball and put up in 1879. A similar statue, called its sister statue, is located in Lincoln Park in Washington D.C.. The Boston statue was taken down by the City of Boston on December 29, 2020. This happened after the Boston Art Commission voted to remove it on June 30, 2020.

The Emancipation Memorial by sculptor Thomas Ball stood in Boston's Park Square for 141 years.

How the Statue Was Paid For

The money for the first statue, built in Washington D.C. in 1876, was raised by people who had once been enslaved. A group called the Western Sanitary Commission helped manage these funds. The Boston copy of the statue was built in 1879.

A well-known public figure named Moses Kimball gave the Boston statue to the city. Kimball asked Thomas Ball to make a copy of the Washington D.C. statue as a gift for Boston.

Design and What It Shows

The monument was designed by sculptor Thomas Ball. He was from the Charlestown area of Boston. Ball admired President Abraham Lincoln and wanted to honor him. He also wanted to remember the historic Emancipation Proclamation with this statue.

Ball first made a model of the statue. Then, a group working on the project asked him to use a real freedman as a model. William Greenleaf Eliot sent Ball a photo of Archer Alexander. Alexander was a formerly enslaved person who had found freedom. Ball used Alexander as the model for the freed slave in the statue.

The statue shows President Lincoln holding the Emancipation Proclamation. This was the document that declared many enslaved people free. Lincoln is shown freeing an African American man. This man is modeled after Archer Alexander. Lincoln waves his left hand over the man's head. This is a sign of freedom.

The freed man is kneeling with broken chains around his ankles and wrists. He looks ready to stand up. One of his hands is clenched, and the other is on his knee. He is not wearing a shirt and looks out into the distance. Lincoln and the freed man do not look at each other or touch.

Kneeling was a common symbol used by people who wanted to end slavery. It appeared on the newspaper called The Liberator. This paper was started by Boston abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison.

The statue might also have been inspired by an event in April 1865. After the Civil War ended, Lincoln visited Richmond, Virginia. A group of freed slaves greeted him. Some of them knelt before him. Lincoln told them, "Don't kneel to me. You must kneel to God only and thank Him for your liberty."

The Dedication Ceremony

The city held a special ceremony to dedicate the statue on December 6, 1879. It was a cold afternoon. A Massachusetts poet named John Greenleaf Whittier wrote a poem for the event.

Mayor Frederick Octavius Prince gave the main speech. He said that Moses Kimball wanted the statue to teach people. He hoped it would teach lessons of justice, kindness, and love for the country. Prince explained that national monuments teach future generations. He said this statue spoke of a very important event in history. It remembered the freedom of four million enslaved people.

Prince believed that justice had been served. He felt that the ideas of the Declaration of Independence now applied to African Americans.

What People Thought About the Statue

When it was first made, many people praised Thomas Ball's work. It made him famous as a sculptor. However, the statue also received strong criticism. Some people felt it showed Lincoln as a powerful figure giving freedom. They thought it did not show how African Americans fought for their own freedom.

Frederick Douglass, a famous abolitionist and former slave, spoke about the sister statue in Washington D.C. in 1876. He called the work "admirable" but said it did not "tell the whole truth of slavery." He felt it showed the Black man as too passive.

Historian Kirk Savage wrote about the statue in his 1997 book. He said that in bronze, Archer Alexander "can never rise and stand." Savage felt the statue kept an image of racial difference forever.

Public Statues After the Civil War

After the Civil War, many statues were built across America. These statues honored heroes and battles. Some people worried that these monuments would only show great heroes. They also worried they might forget the difficult history of slavery.

These public statues were a way to tell a historical story. They were meant to be seen by everyone for many years. They aimed to create a sense of agreement rather than conflict.

Boston became very interested in public art in the 1870s. New statues were made to honor Boston's heroes. Many of these were created by Thomas Ball. His other works include the George Washington statue and the Charles Sumner statue. These are in the Boston Public Garden.

Park Square

Park Square is a small park where the statue stood for 141 years. It is located between busy streets like Charles Street and Boylston Street. Park Square used to be a major transportation hub. It also had fashionable shops and restaurants.

Why the Statue Was Removed

Calls for Removal

The Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 led to many calls for statues to be removed. People wanted to take down monuments that seemed to honor racist figures or show racist images. These protests made people think about what role statues should play in public spaces. More than 224 statues have been removed across the country since then.

Tory Bullock, an artist from Dorchester, started an online petition. He asked the city to take the statue down. Over 12,000 people signed it. Bullock said that as a young Black child, the statue made him uncomfortable. He felt it sent the wrong message. He thought the statue would be better in a museum. There, its history could be explained.

On June 30, 2020, the Boston Art Commission voted to remove the monument. They held two nights of meetings where people shared their opinions. Some people supported keeping the statue. They said freed people had funded it and it showed the victory of freedom. But the commission agreed with critics. They felt the statue showed submission more than freedom.

Former Mayor Marty Walsh supported the commission's choice. He said that the statue made people uncomfortable. He felt it showed a "reductive representation" of the Black man's role in ending slavery.

Moving the Statue to Storage

On December 29, 2020, the City of Boston removed the statue. It was placed in a temporary storage building. The city has not decided where it will go next. However, they hope it will be moved to a place where its history can be better explained.

Tory Bullock watched as the statue was taken away. He told WBZ-TV it was "an amazing funeral." He said he was there to say a quiet goodbye to the artwork.

Mark Pasnik, who leads the Boston Art Commission, said new art would be put in Park Square. He also plans to have talks about cultural symbols and public art.

Other Versions of the Statue

Washington D.C. Statue

The first version of the statue was put up in 1876. It is in Lincoln Park in Washington D.C.. The dedication ceremony was held on April 14. President Ulysses S. Grant and other important people attended. Frederick Douglass gave the main speech. Even though he spoke, Douglass was still disappointed with how the statue showed the Black man.

In 2020, there were plans to remove this statue too. However, it is still standing. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Methuen, Massachusetts

Architect Edward Francis Searles bought an early, smaller version of the statue from Ball. He brought it to Methuen, Massachusetts. It is now in the Town Hall atrium there.

University of Wisconsin–Madison

The Chazen Museum of Art has a white marble version of the statue. It was given to the museum in 1976. The museum is on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

See also

• List of monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests