During the civil unrest [1] that followed the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, a number of monuments and memorials associated with racial injustice were vandalized, destroyed or removed, or commitments to remove them were announced. This occurred mainly in the United States, but also in several other countries. Some of the monuments in question had been the subject of lengthy, years-long efforts to remove them, sometimes involving legislation and/or court proceedings. In some cases the removal was legal and official; in others, most notably in Alabama and North Carolina, [2] laws prohibiting the removal of monuments were deliberately broken.
Initially, protesters targeted monuments related to the Confederate States of America [ citation needed ]. As the scope of the protests broadened to include other forms of systemic racism, many statues of other controversial figures such as Christopher Columbus, [3] [4] Junípero Serra, Juan de Oñate and Kit Carson were torn down or removed. Monuments to many other local figures connected with racism were also targeted by protestors.[ citation needed ][ clarification needed ]. Statues of American slave owners such as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant, and Francis Scott Key were also vandalised or removed. [5] [6] [7] According to the Huffington Post , by October 2020 over a hundred Confederate symbols had been "removed, relocated or renamed", based on data from the Southern Poverty Law Center. [8]
Some monuments that were not associated with the Confederacy, slavery, or racism were also targeted. In Madison, Wisconsin, the statue of abolitionist Hans Christian Heg, was torn down and thrown into a lake. [9] [10] [11] Protestors also tore down a statue titled Forward , by sculptor Jean Pond Miner, which depicts the embodiment of the Wisconsin state motto. [12] In Portland, a statue of an elk was removed after several bonfires lit beneath the statue caused structural damage to the statue's base. [13] A statue of York, a Black slave with the Lewis and Clark Expedition, was removed by the University of Portland after it was vandalised. [14]
In the United Kingdom, removal efforts and vandalism focused on memorials to figures involved in the transatlantic slave trade, British colonialism, and eugenics. [15] [16] In Belgium, sculptures of King Leopold II were targeted due to his rule during the atrocities in the Congo Free State. In New Zealand, a statue of a British military officer John Hamilton was removed, and in India another colonial-era statue was relocated. In South Africa, a bust of Cecil Rhodes was decapitated, and a statue of the last president of the Orange Free State was taken down.
This list is limited to successful removals, and instances in which a person or body with authority has committed itself to removal. It does not include the many works that have been the subject of petitions, protests, defacement, or attempted removals, such as the Emancipation Memorial in Washington, D.C., [17] and many statues of Leopold II in Belgium. It also does not include statues that fell or subject to attempted removals as a result of the Rhodes Must Fall movement that predates Floyd's murder by five years [18] [19] such as the statue of Cecil Rhodes at Oriel College, Oxford, England. [20] [21] [22]
The following monuments and memorials were removed during the George Floyd protests, mainly due to their connections to racism. The majority are in the United States and mostly commemorate the Confederate States of America (CSA), but some monuments were also removed in other countries, for example the statues of slave traders in the United Kingdom.
Notes:
The following monuments and memorials were removed during the George Floyd protests due to their association with racism in the United States. Most commemorated people involved in the Lost Cause of the Confederacy, with others linked to the genocide of Native Americans, segregation in the United States, and related issues. In a few instances, like the Montgomery County Confederate Soldiers Monument and the statue of John Mason, the monuments had already been moved from their original location, sometimes more than once, as different venues objected.
The Confederate States of America fought a four-year war (the American Civil War) to preserve the institution of slavery. After its defeat, all enslaved African Americans were freed and became citizens with the same rights as whites. Confederate monuments commemorate politicians, Army officers, and soldiers of the Confederacy. Most are in the former CSA states.
This table does not include Virginia, which is in a second table that follows.
Monument/memorial | City | State, etc. | Removal announced | Removed | Means of removal | Notes | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Statue of Charles Linn | Birmingham | Alabama | — | May 31, 2020 | Toppled by protesters | Toppled by protesters who unsuccessfully attempted to remove the nearby Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument. | [23] | |
Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument | Birmingham | Alabama | May 31, 2020 | Jun 1, 2020 | Removed by city | The mayor said that the $25,000 fine for violating the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act was more affordable than the cost of continued unrest. The fine was paid by July 10. | [24] [25] [26] [27] | |
Bust of Robert E. Lee | Fort Myers | Florida | Jun 1, 2020 | Jun 1, 2020 | Removed by Sons of Confederate Veterans | Removed from downtown by its owner, the Sons of Confederate Veterans. | [28] | |
Statue of Robert E. Lee at Robert E. Lee High School | Montgomery | Alabama | — | Jun 1, 2020 | Toppled by protesters | Four people were charged with felony criminal mischief over removal of this statue. | [29] | |
Bentonville Confederate Monument | Bentonville | Arkansas | Jun 1, 2020 | Sep 2, 2020 | Plans for removal by United Daughters of the Confederacy | Removal announced during protests | [30] | |
Athens Confederate Monument | Athens | Georgia | Jun 2, 2020 | Aug 10, 2020 | Removed by the city | The mayor and city commissioners announced plans to remove the monument. | [32] [33] [34] | |
Nash County Confederate Monument | Rocky Mount | North Carolina | Jun 2, 2020 | Jun 30, 2020 | Dismantled and placed in storage | The City Council of Rocky Mount voted to remove the monument. | [35] | |
Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument | Indianapolis | Indiana | Jun 4, 2020 | Jun 8, 2020 | Removed by city | A resolution to remove the monument passed the Indianapolis Parks Board in 2017, but was not funded. The mayor announced it would be removed. | [37] [38] [39] | |
Statue of Raphael Semmes | Mobile | Alabama | Jun 5, 2020 | Jun 5, 2020 | Removed by city | Statue of Confederate Navy Admiral Raphael Semmes removed from downtown on orders of Mayor Sandy Stimpson. The $25,000 fine was paid by July 10. | [40] [41] [27] | |
Statue of Sam Davis | Nashville | Tennessee | Jun 5, 2020 | Jun 12, 2020 | Removed by school | Statue of Confederate soldier Sam Davis removed from the campus of Montgomery Bell Academy. | [42] | |
John B. Castleman Monument | Louisville | Kentucky | Jun 8, 2020 | Jun 8, 2020 | Removed by city | Statue of John Breckinridge Castleman removed to be placed at his burial site at Cave Hill Cemetery. | [44] | |
University of Alabama Confederate Memorial | Tuscaloosa | Alabama | Jun 9, 2020 | Removed by University. | The memorial was formerly located near the Gorgas Library. Three Confederate plaques were also removed from the university grounds. | [45] | ||
Jacksonville Confederate Monument | Jacksonville | Florida | Jun 9, 2020 | Jun 9, 2020 | Removed by city | Overnight removed the monument from a Confederate monument in Hemming Park, leaving an empty pedestal. | [46] | |
Denton Confederate Soldier Monument | Denton | Texas | Jun 9, 2020 | Jun 25, 2020 | Removed by county | Denton County commissioners voted to remove and relocate the monument. | [47] [48] [49] | |
The Grandstand Confederate Memorial Services | Jacksonville | Florida | Jun 9, 2020 | — | Plans for removal by city | Mayor announced removal of all Confederate monuments, memorials, and markers, including this in Old City Cemetery. | [50] | |
Confederate Monument | Fort Worth | Texas | Jun 9, 2020 | Jun 13, 2020 | Removed by Tarrant County | County commission voted to remove the monument in front of Tarrant County Courthouse. | [51] [52] | |
Florida's Tribute to the Women of the Confederacy | Jacksonville | Florida | Jun 9, 2020 | Dec 27, 2023 | Removed by order of Mayor Donna Deegan | Mayor announced removal of all Confederate monuments, memorials, and markers, including this one in Confederate Park, since renamed Springfield Park. | [50] [53] | |
Multiple historic markers | Jacksonville | Florida | Jun 10, 2020 | — | Plans for removal by Mayor Lenny Curry | Announced plans to remove all Confederate monuments including these 8 items: Maple Leaf at Northbank Riverwalk, Maple Leaf at Walter Jones Historical Park, Florida Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Home marker in Old City Cemetery, Line of Entrenchment at old Jacksonville Terminal, Skirmish At Cedar Creek at Lenox Avenue, 1914 United Confederate Veteran's Reunion at Confederate Park (now Springfield Park), 23 informational signs and 58 tree signs at Camp Milton Historic Preserve, and In Memory of Our Beloved Ancestors – Ground Marker at Old City Cemetery. | [50] | |
Confederate Soldier Memorial | Huntsville | Alabama | Jun 10, 2020 | Oct 23, 2020 | Removal authorized by unanimous vote of Madison County Commission. State review committee said they did not have legal authority to authorize removal; referred to Alabama Attorney General. Activists have raised $25,000 to pay the fine, if removed illegally. | The memorial, constructed in 1905, is located in front of the Madison County Courthouse. The county would be fined $25,000 if it removed the memorial without state approval under a 2017 law designed to protect historical structures and monuments. The statue, which was owned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, was gradually removed between 1:20 am and 4:45 am on October 23, 2020 | [54] [27] [55] [56] | |
Gloria Victis | Salisbury | North Carolina | Jun 11, 2020 | Jul 6–7, 2020 | Two unanimous votes by city council, plus police chief declared it a risk to public safety | June 20, UDC signed the city's proposal to have the sculpture moved to Old Lutheran Cemetery. | [57] [58] [59] | |
Spirit of the Confederacy | Houston | Texas | Jun 11, 2020 | Jun 17, 2020 | Removed by city | To be moved to the Houston Museum of African American Culture. | [60] [61] [62] | |
Statue of Richard W. Dowling | Houston | Texas | Jun 11, 2020 | Jun 17, 2020 | Removed by city, disassembled and placed in storage | Initial plans to relocate the statue of Dick Dowling to Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic Site were scuttled following objections by the mayor of Port Arthur. Final disposition uncertain. | [63] [60] | |
Gadsden Confederate Memorial | Quincy | Florida | Jun 11, 2020 | Jun 11, 2020 | Crane to remove it appeared 30 minutes after county commissioners' unanimous vote. | Removed from the front of the Gadsden County Courthouse. Will be relocated within six months. | [65] [66] [67] | |
Confederate War Memorial | Dallas | Texas | Jun 12, 2020 | Jun 24, 2020 | Removed by city | Placed in storage to prevent protester injuries during potential vandalism attempts, pending resolution of preexisting legal dispute over disposition. | [68] | |
DeKalb County Confederate Monument | Decatur | Georgia | Jun 12, 2020 | Jun 18, 2020 | Monument removal ordered by Georgia Superior Court Justice | The monument was ordered removed by Superior Court Justice Clarence Seeliger on the grounds that it constituted a public nuisance under the Georgia code. | [70] [71] | |
Statue of Jefferson Davis | Frankfort | Kentucky | Jun 12, 2020 | Jun 13, 2020 | Removed by state | The Historic Properties Advisory Commission voted to move the statue from the capitol rotunda to the Jefferson Davis State Historic Site. Removed the following day. | [72] | |
Stand Watie and Confederate Soldier Fountain | Tahlequah | Oklahoma | Jun 13, 2020 | Jun 13, 2020 | Removed by Cherokee Nation | Watie headed the Confederate-allied Cherokee. The fountain was dedicated in 1913 by the Daughters of the Confederacy rather than the Cherokee Nation. | [73] | |
Stand Watie Monument | Tahlequah | Oklahoma | Jun 13, 2020 | Jun 13, 2020 | Removed by Cherokee Nation | The monument was dedicated in 1921 by the Daughters of the Confederacy rather than the Cherokee Nation. | [73] | |
Pitt County Confederate Soldiers Monument | Greenville | North Carolina | June 15, 2020 | June 22, 2020 | Removed by county | County, which owns the statue, voted to remove immediately under "reason of threatened public safety". | [74] [75] | |
Washington County, Mississippi Confederate Monument | Greenville | Mississippi | June 16 | County commission voted 4–1 to move the monument from its position in front of courthouse. | [76] | |||
Iberville Parish Confederate Monument | Plaquemine | Louisiana | June 16 | Parish Council voted unanimously for removal. | [77] [78] | |||
Zebulon Baird Vance Monument | Asheville | North Carolina | June 16 | Started May 18, 2021 | Asheville City Council and Buncombe County Council | City and County councils both unanimously passed a joint-resolution to remove monument. | [79] [80] | |
Montgomery County Confederate Soldiers Monument | White's Ferry, Dickerson | Maryland | June 16 | Removed by private owner, who also renamed Gen. Jubal A. Early ferry boat. | Until 2017, had stood in front of the Montgomery County courthouse in Rockville, Maryland. | [81] | ||
Hey Reb! | Las Vegas | Nevada | June 16 | June 16 | Removed by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas | The statue is a representation of Hey Reb!, the mascot of the UNLV Rebels. It was donated to the university in 2007 and was situated outside the Richard Tam Alumni Center before its removal. | [82] | |
Monument to 60th Regiment NC Volunteers and Battle of Chickamauga | Asheville | North Carolina | June 17 | July 14 | Removed by Buncombe County Commission | Formerly located in front of the county courthouse. | [83] [84] [85] | |
Robert E. Lee Dixie Highway, Colonel John Connally Marker | Asheville | North Carolina | June 17 | July 10 | Removed jointly Buncombe County Commission and City of Asheville | Placed in storage. Base left for any future use of the site. | [83] [86] | |
Confederate Cow Calvary Monument | Plant City | Florida | June 18 | June 11 (one week before announcement) | Removed by city council, placed in storage | Monument to 1st Florida Special Cavalry Battalion also known as the "Cow Calvary" due to them protecting farmlands during the war. Monument was placed by United Daughters of the Confederacy in 2007 on public land without city approval. City requesting UDC to retrieve monument from storage. | [87] | |
Jefferson Davis Memorial Boulder | Brownsville | Texas | June 17 | Removed by city | Removed from Washington Park. | [88] | ||
Robert E. Lee Highway Marker | San Diego | California | June 18 | Removed by San Diego Parks and Recreation and Stockdale Capital Partners | The marker was located in the Horton Plaza Park prior to its removal. | [89] | ||
Memorial to Company A, Capitol Guards | Little Rock | Arkansas | June 18 | Removed by city | The statue will be placed in storage until a location can be found for it. | [90] | ||
North Carolina State Confederate Monument | Raleigh | North Carolina | June 19 | June 19 | Two statues toppled by protesters; remainder removed by work crew | Protesters pulled down the two statues at the base of the monument, dragging one through the streets and hanging it from a street light. Removal of remainder ordered by Governor Roy Cooper shortly afterward. | [91] [92] | |
Albert Pike Memorial | Washington | District of Columbia | June 19 | Toppled and set afire by protesters during Juneteenth | The statue was wrapped in chains before it was toppled. The D.C. government wanted to remove the work in 2017, but could not do so without an act of Congress. | [93] [94] [95] [96] | ||
Pine Bluff Confederate Monument | Pine Bluff | Arkansas | June 20 | June 20 | County judge and United Daughters of the Confederacy | The statue was removed from the Jefferson County Courthouse as part of a cooperative agreement between Jefferson County Judge Gerald Robinson and the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The statue was transferred to an undisclosed location where it can be cleaned and repaired | [97] | |
Statue of Henry Lawson Wyatt | Raleigh | North Carolina | — | June 21 | Removed by governor's order | Removal ordered by Governor Roy Cooper after protesters removed statues at base of Confederate Monument. | [92] | |
Monument to North Carolina Women of the Confederacy [lower-alpha 1] | Raleigh | North Carolina | — | June 21 | Removed by governor's order | Removal ordered by Governor Roy Cooper after protesters removed statues at base of Confederate Monument. | [92] | |
Confederate Soldiers' Memorial Bridge sign and statue | Clarksville | Tennessee | Week of June 15 | Removed by city | The sign and monument were allegedly removed for their own protection. | [98] | ||
Confederate soldier grave marker | Silver Spring | Maryland | June 17 | Toppled by protesters | The statue was located at Grace Episcopal Church. It marked the remains of seventeen unidentified Confederate soldiers killed during the Battle of Fort Stevens. | [99] | ||
Confederate Monument | Oxford | Mississippi | June 18 | July 14 | Relocated by University of Mississippi | The statue was previously located in front of the university's main administration building. It was the site of a pro-segregation riot in 1962 and a pro-Confederate protest in 2019. The statue was previously vandalized by protesters. It will be moved to a Confederate cemetery on campus. | [100] [101] | |
Confederate Memorial Obelisk | St. Augustine | Florida | June 22 | City commissioners voted 3–2 on June 22, 2020, to move the obelisk. | [102] | |||
"To our Confederate dead" monument | Louisburg | North Carolina | June 22 | June 29 | Removed by city | Louisburg Town Council voted to move the monument to Oakwood Cemetery. | [103] [104] | |
Leflore County Confederate Monument | Greenwood | Mississippi | June 23 | County commission voted unanimously to move monument from in front of courthouse. | [105] | |||
Our Confederate Soldiers | Beaumont | Texas | June 23 | June 29 | City Council of Beaumont voted to remove it. | [106] [107] | ||
Warren County Confederate Soldiers Monument | Warrenton | North Carolina | June 23 | June 24 | Removed by county, placed in storage | County commissioners unanimously voted to remove monument | [108] | |
The Granville Gray | Oxford | North Carolina | June 24 | June 24 | Removed by county, placed in storage | Granville County commissioners voted to remove monument after threats were made to topple monument. County announced that they would vote later on where to relocate monument | [109] | |
Judah Benjamin marker | Charlotte | North Carolina | June 24 | Removed by city | The marker consisted of black granite and located near a sidewalk. It was paid for by a local synagogue in the late 1940s. A local branch of the Daughters of the Confederacy initially proposed placing the marker, but they ceased support after being told not to work with Jews by a New York banker. | [110] | ||
Lenoir County Confederate Monument | Kinston | North Carolina | June 25 | July 1 | Removed by Lenoir County Board of Commissioners | The statue was relocated from the Lenoir County visitor's center to the First Battle of Kinston Civil War Battlefield Park. This the fifth time the statue has been moved. | [111] | |
Confederate Memorial | Wilmington | North Carolina | Not announced | June 25 | Temporarily removed by city | [112] | ||
George Davis Monument | Wilmington | North Carolina | Not announced | June 25 | Temporarily removed by city | Davis was a Confederate senator and Attorney General. | [112] | |
Confederate Memorial | Minden | Louisiana | Not announced | June 26 | Removed by owner, United Daughters of the Confederacy | [113] | ||
Confederate Monument | Fayetteville | North Carolina | Not announced | June 27 | Removed by owner, United Daughters of the Confederacy | [114] | ||
Monument to Confederate Dead (Haymount area) | Fayetteville | North Carolina | Not announced | June 27 | Removed by owners, Sons of Confederate Veterans and United Daughters of the Confederacy | [115] | ||
Lowndes County, Alabama, Confederate Monument | Hayneville | Alabama | June 29 | Removal ordered by county | The memorial is located near the Lowndes County Courthouse. The county expects to be fined under the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act. | [116] | ||
Kanawha Riflemen memorial | Charleston | West Virginia | June 29 | June 29 | Removed by city | The monument consisted of a standing commemorative plaque connected to two stone benches; the benches were not removed. | [117] | |
Statue of Confederate soldier | Frederick | Maryland | June 29 (discovered) | Toppled and beheaded; not likely to be repaired | [118] | |||
Rockdale County Confederate Monument | Conyers | Georgia | June 30 | Removed by Rockdale County Commission | [119] [120] [121] | |||
Confederate Monument | Orangeburg | South Carolina | June 30, 2020 | Removal requires a 2⁄3 vote of the South Carolina Legislature. | Orangeville City Council voted unanimously for removal. | [122] | ||
Confederate Monument (Cross Creek Cemetery) | Fayetteville | North Carolina | — | June 30, 2020 | Removed by owner | The oldest Confederate monument in North Carolina. | [123] | |
Slave whipping post | Georgetown | Delaware | June 29 | July 1 | Removed by state | [124] | ||
Statue of Alfred Mouton 1922 | Lafayette | Louisiana | Jul 1, 2020 | Jul 17, 2021 | Removed by city | On July 16, 2021, the United Daughters of the Confederacy signed a settlement agreeing that the city would bear the cost for removing the statue, which stood outside the former city hall, to another location. It was removed the next day. | [125] [126] | |
Two statues commemorating specific events | McConnellsburg | Pennsylvania | July 2 | The first statue is a historical marker commemorating a skirmish that killed two Confederate soldiers separated from their unit. The second memorial commemorates a meal given to Confederate soldiers by McConnellsburg residents after the 1864 burning of Chambersburg. Two historical markers, noting the same events, were also removed. | [127] | |||
Mt. Zion Confederate Monument | Cornelius | North Carolina | July 2 | Church Board asked for its removal | [128] | |||
Monument to Confederate Brigadier General Albert G. Jenkins | Hampden Township | Pennsylvania | July 3 (confirmed) | Removed by owner of land | [129] | |||
Statue of Benjamin Welch Owens | Lothian | Maryland | July 3 (discovered) | Toppled by protesters | The statue was also vandalized in June. | [130] | ||
United Confederate Veterans Memorial | Seattle | Washington | — | July 3/4 | Toppled by protesters | The monument was toppled by unknown persons, apparently on July 3, 2020. In the process, the lower ends of both formerly vertical columns were broken in multiple places. | [131] | |
Judah P. Benjamin Monument | Sarasota | Florida | Mid-June | July 5 | Removed by city manager | Removed along with a marker dedicated to Benjamin. | [132] | |
Cape Girardeau Confederate Memorial | Cape Girardeau | Missouri | August 20 | Removed by city council | [133] | |||
Bolivar County Confederate Monument | Cleveland | Mississippi | July 6 | County Commissioners voted unanimously to relocate the statue | [134] | |||
Lowndes County, Mississippi, Confederate soldier | Columbus | Mississippi | July 6 | County Commissioners voted unanimously to relocate the statue. | [134] | |||
Greensboro Confederate Statue (Green Hill Cemetery) | Greensboro | North Carolina | July 6 | July 7 | Toppled by protesters; moved to storage | [135] [136] | ||
Lee Square Confederate Monument | Pensacola | Florida | July 7 | The City of Pensacola is calling for its removal. Lee Square may also be renamed Florida Square. | The monument was vandalized with red paint on the night of June 29. Removal of monument began on October 26 with the removal of the 42 ft. monument's 8 ft. statue portion. | [137] [138] [139] | ||
Henry County Confederate Monument | McDonough | Georgia | July 7 | July 29 | Removed by county commissions | Disassembled, base still remains currently | [140] | |
Anson County Courthouse Confederate monument | Wadesboro | North Carolina | July 7 | July 8 | Removed by county | [142] | ||
Marker of Jefferson Davis Highway | Hwy. 99 near Bakersfield | California | July 8 | June 17 (three weeks before announcement) | Moved by county to storage area at Kern County Museum | [143] | ||
Statue of Henry Watkins Allen | Port Allen | Louisiana | July 8 | The Port Allen City Council has requested that West Baton Rouge Parish remove the statue. | [144] | |||
Bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest Loura Jane Herndon Baxendale, 1978 | Nashville | Tennessee | Jul 9, 2020 | Jul 23, 2021 | Tennessee Capital Commission voted to relocate bust | Relocated to Tennessee State Museum | [145] | |
Bust of Charles Didier Dreux | New Orleans | Louisiana | July 10 | Toppled by protesters; city has not announced plans for the statue | Bust commemorating Confederate officer Charles Didier Dreux. The nose had previously been chiseled off the statue by protesters. | [147] | ||
David O. Dodd memorial bench and historical marker | Little Rock | Arkansas | July 10 | July 9 or 10 | Removed by city | The two structures were previously located in MacArthur Park. They honored Dodd, a 17 year-old executed by the Union for spying for the Confederacy. | [148] | |
1929 Confederate Reunion Marker | Charlotte | North Carolina | — | July 10 | Removed at direction of county commissioner, placed in storage | Marker commemorated a reunion with confederate veterans in 1929. Marker has previously been vandalized in recent years and had glass enclosure placed around it to protect it. Glass case left empty. | [149] | |
Sampson County Confederate Monument | Clinton | North Carolina | Not announced | July 11 | Damaged by protesters after the city council passed a resolution asking the county to remove it | [150] | ||
Pasquotank County Confederate Monument | Elizabeth City | North Carolina | July 13 | Removal ordered by county | [151] | |||
Leonard Park Confederate Monument | Gainesville | Texas | July 14 | Unanimous vote of city council | Plan to relocate monument to Grayson County Frontier Village historical site in Denison, Texas. | [152] [153] | ||
Madison County Confederate Monument | Madison | Florida | July 14 | Black County Commissioners voted for removal, white ones to leave it. | [154] | |||
Confederate soldier memorial | Macon | Georgia | July 14 | The City is moving it, but how to pay for the substantial cost is unresolved. It will be relocated to Whittle Park. | On the site of a former slave market. In a second phase of statue removal, the County's Women of the South memorial may be moved. | [155] | ||
Caddo Parish Confederate Monument | Shreveport | Louisiana | July 20 | Parish commission and UDC agreed to move monument to different location, pending agreement on new location | Parish to build wooden box around monument to protect and cover structure before its relocation | [156] | ||
Memorial to Arizona Confederate troops | Phoenix | Arizona | July 22 | July 23 | Removed by UDC overnight | UDC requested to take back monument from public property and find new location on private property | [157] | |
Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway marker | Gold Canyon | Arizona | July 22 | July 23 | Removed by UDC overnight | UDC requested to take back monument from public property and find new location on private property | [157] | |
Caldwell County Confederate Monument | Lockhart | Texas | July 28 | County commission approved removal | Plans to relocate statue to Caldwell County Museum | [158] | ||
Gaston County Confederate Monument | Gastonia | North Carolina | August 4 | County commission voted to relocate statue | Monument currently in front of courthouse. SCV has 6 months to submit a proposal for the monument's new location | [159] | ||
Daviess County Confederate Monument | Owensboro | Kentucky | August 6 | County Fiscal Court voted to relocate monument | Fiscal Court set up a relocation committee to plan for the removal and find a new location. Monument currently in front of the courthouse. | [160] | ||
Monument to William Wing Loring | St. Augustine | Florida | Not announced | Night of August 23–24 | Removed by University of Florida, which owns the land it was on. | Loring was a Confederate general. | [161] | |
Historic marker states that under the Confederacy, Bowling Green was the capital of Kentucky | Bowling Green | Kentucky | Not announced | c. August 25 | Removed by Western Kentucky University administration. | Frankfort remained the Union capital and controlled much more of Kentucky than the shadow Confederate government of Kentucky. | [162] [163] | |
Putnam County Confederate Memorial | Palatka | Florida | August 25 | In November 2020, the board decided that the statue would be relocated to Putnam County Veterans Memorial Park but only if $200,000 in private funds was raised within 90 days from people inside of Putnam County. | [164] | |||
The South's Defenders | Lake Charles | Louisiana | August 27 | Calcasieu Parish Police Jury voted 10–4 to keep monument | Two weeks after the vote, Hurricane Laura knocked the monument's statue off its base. | [165] | ||
John Pelham Monument | Anniston | Alabama | early September | September 27 | In September 2020, the Anniston, Alabama city council voted 4–1 to remove a monument of Confederate artillery officer John Pelham located in the grassy median of a major public avenue in Anniston since 1905. Anniston Mayor Jack Draper previously called for its removal in June 2020 | On September 27, construction workers successfully removed the stone obelisk monument late in the evening. However, there were still plans to relocate it to a Confederate history park. | [166] | |
Stonewall Jackson Monument | San Diego | California | July 23 | July 23 | Removed at the request of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. | Confederate monument removed from plot in city-owned cemetery where Union and Confederate soldiers are buried. Monument has been the target of petitions for removal since 2017. | [167] [168] | |
Uptown Square Confederate Monument | Lexington | North Carolina | October 14 | October 16 | Removed at the request of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. | Despite objections from Davidson County Commissioners, the Confederate monument which stood at the city square in Lexington since 1902 was removed after the Davidson County Superior Court allowed for the city and the Daughters of the Confederacy to have it removed from this location. The statue would be removed from the city square late at night for an almost five-hour period on October 15–16. | [169] | |
Statue of Robert E. Lee | Washington | District of Columbia | Dec 21, 2020 | Removed by staff from the Architect of the Capitol | The statue, formerly one of Virginia's two contributions to the National Statuary Hall at the United States Capitol rotunda, will be moved to the Virginia Museum of History & Culture. Virginia Governor Ralph Northam filed a request for a bill to remove the statue in December 2020. | [170] [171] |
Virginia, where the CSA had its capital in Richmond, has the most Confederate monuments of any U.S. state. A March 2020 change in the law of Virginia had already essentially repealed the statute preventing removal of historical monuments, effective from July 1, 2020. This change became possible when voters, after electing the Democrat Ralph Northam as Governor in 2017, gave the Democrats control of both houses of the Virginia General Assembly from January 2020, for the first time in a generation. [172]
Monument/memorial | City | State | Removal announced | Removed | Means of removal | Notes | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Appomattox | Alexandria | Virginia | — | May 31, 2020 | Removed by United Daughters of the Confederacy | The owner, United Daughters of the Confederacy, moved the date up because of the protests. | [173] | |
Norfolk Confederate Monument | Norfolk | Virginia | June 2, 2020 | June 16, 2020 | Removed by city | City Council approved removal; located at a former slave auction site. Johnny Reb statue atop the monument removed June 12; rest of monument removed by June 16. | [174] [175] [176] | |
Robert E. Lee Monument | Richmond | Virginia | June 3, 2020 | September 8, 2021 | Removed by state | Governor announced removal "as soon as possible"; monument on state land. | [177] [178] [179] | |
J. E. B. Stuart Monument | Richmond | Virginia | June 3, 2020 | July 7, 2020 | Removed by City of Richmond [180] | Planned removal of the four Confederate monuments on city land. [181] After the J. E. B. Stuart statue was removed, the Robert E. Lee statue became the last remaining Confederate monument located on Richmond's Monument Avenue. [182] | ||
Stonewall Jackson Monument | Richmond | Virginia | June 3, 2020 | July 1, 2020 | Removed by City of Richmond | Planned removal of the four Confederate monuments on city land. | [181] | |
Matthew Fontaine Maury Monument | Richmond | Virginia | June 3, 2020 | July 2, 2020 | Removed by City of Richmond | One of the four Confederate monuments on city land. | [181] | |
Slave Auction Block | Fredericksburg | Virginia | 2019 | June 5, 2020 | Removed by city | A slave auction block was removed from the downtown and will be displayed in the Fredericksburg Area Museum. | [184] | |
Robert E. Lee Memorial | Roanoke | Virginia | June 5, 2020 | July 23, 2020 | Toppled and damaged by protester, city removed monument afterwards | City Council had voted earlier to start the legal process to remove the monument and rename Lee Plaza. City will keep monument in storage until fate of statue is determined | [185] | |
Statue of Williams Carter Wickham | Richmond | Virginia | — | June 6, 2020 | Toppled by protesters | Pulled from its base and tumbled to the ground. | [187] | |
Jefferson Davis Memorial | Richmond | Virginia | June 3, 2020 | June 10, 2020 | Statue of Davis toppled by protesters; the rest of the memorial was not damaged | Planned removal of the four Confederate monuments on city land. Protesters toppled the statue from its plinth on June 10. | [181] [188] | |
Confederate Monument | Portsmouth | Virginia | June 9, 2020 | June 10, 2020 | Four statues decapitated and one pulled down by protesters | City campaign to remove it already underway. | [189] [190] | |
Plaques and stained-glass windows at St. Paul's Episcopal Church | Richmond | Virginia | June 14, 2020 | Removal approved by vestry of seven plaques 'associated with the Lost Cause era and ideology' and rededicate the stained-glass windows installed as memorials to Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and their families | This is the church Lee and Davis attended in Richmond; Jefferson Davis was a member. The windows and plaques contain no battle flags or Confederate imagery. | [191] | ||
Howitzer Monument | Richmond | Virginia | June 16, 2020 | June 16, 2020 | Toppled by protesters | Pulled off its pedestal by a rope. Was located near Virginia Commonwealth University's Monroe Park campus. | [192] | |
Loudoun County Confederate monument | Leesburg | Virginia | June 26, 2020 | July 21, 2020 | Removed overnight by UDC | County had voted to remove monument | [193] | |
Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument | Richmond | Virginia | July 1, 2020 | July 8, 2020 | Removed by city | The sixth city-owned Confederate monument ordered removed by Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney on July 1. | [195] | |
Two Confederate cannons | Richmond | Virginia | July 2, 2020 | Removed by city | One of the cannons was located near the Arthur Ashe memorial; its plaque claimed that the cannon marked the second line of the Confederate defense of Richmond. The second cannon was located near the Jefferson Davis memorial. | [196] | ||
Fitzhugh Lee cross | Richmond | Virginia | July 9, 2020 | Removed by city | Fitzhugh served as a Major General in the Confederate Army and later as the governor of Virginia. | [197] | ||
Statue of Joseph Bryan | Richmond | Virginia | July 9, 2020 | Removed by city | Bryan owned the Richmond Times-Dispatch and served in Mosby's Rangers during the Civil War. | [197] | ||
Farmville Confederate statue | Farmville | Virginia | June 15, 2020 | June 18, 2020 | Removal ordered by town council | A pedestal supporting the soldier statue was not removed. The statue was placed in offsite storage pending final disposition or relocation. | [198] | |
Bust of Hunter Holmes McGuire | Richmond | Virginia | July 16, 2020 | Committee at Virginia Commonwealth University recommended removing bust from library along with removing several plagues and renaming several buildings around campus | [199] | |||
Virginia Beach Confederate monument | Virginia Beach | Virginia | July 23, 2020 | July 25, 2020 | Removed by city council | Placed in storage, city will solicit proposals from museums for relocations | [200] | |
Statue of Robert E. Lee (pictured) Busts of Fitzhugh Lee, J. E. B. Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, Joseph E. Johnston, Jefferson Davis and Alexander Stephens Plaque for Thomas Bocock | Richmond | Virginia | July 24, 2020 | July 24, 2020 | Removed by order of House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn | One statue, six busts, and one plaque commemorating Confederate leaders were removed from the Virginia State Capitol's Old House Chamber, where rebel leaders met when Richmond was the capitol of the Confederacy. Filler-Corn announced the creation of an advisory group to propose new memorials for the House. | [201] | |
Company H monument | Newport News | Virginia | August 12, 2020 | City Council voted 6–1 to remove | The monument for the Confederate veterans of Company H, 32nd Virginia Infantry has been covered since June 11 | [202] | ||
Caroline County Confederate Monument | Bowling Green | Virginia | August 25 | The Caroline County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to remove the monument. | [203] | |||
At Ready 1909 | Charlottesville | Virginia | Sep 12, 2020 | Removed by county | [204] | |||
Robert E. Lee Monument Henry Shrady and Leo Lentelli, 1924 | Charlottesville | Virginia | Jul 9, 2021 | Jul 10, 2021 | Removed by city | A previous attempt to remove the statue prompted the Unite the Right rally in 2017. The statue was removed to storage in July 2021. The statue was melted down on October 27, 2023. | [205] [206] [207] [208] | |
Equestrian statue of Stonewall Jackson Charles Keck, 1919–1921 | Charlottesville | Virginia | Jul 9, 2021 | Jul 10, 2021 | Removed by city | One of four public sculptures in the city removed over the weekend of July 10–11 (the others being the monuments to Lee, Lewis and Clark, and George Rogers Clark). | [207] [209] [210] |
Monuments dedicated to individuals accused of involvement in the genocide of indigenous peoples in the Americas have been removed. [211] [212]
Juan de Oñate, when governor of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, was responsible for the 1599 Acoma Massacre. Junípero Serra, a Franciscan friar, was involved in enslaving Chumash people in the 18th century for the building and supplying of the Spanish missions in California. [213] [214] [215] Diego de Vargas, also governor of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, led the reconquest of the territory in 1692, after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.
A handful of towns in Spain have offered to receive statues of Spaniards unwanted in the U.S. [216]
Monument/memorial | City | State | Removal announced | Removed | Means of removal | Notes | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Equestrian statue of Juan de Oñate | Alcalde | New Mexico | Jun 15, 2020 | Jun 15, 2020 | Temporarily removed by Río Arriba County authorities | The right foot of the statue was cut off and stolen in 1997, in reference to Oñate's Acoma Massacre, in which the right foot of every male over 25 was cut off. | [217] [218] | |
Statue of Juan de Oñate | Albuquerque | New Mexico | — | Jun 16, 2020 | Removed by city pending a decision on next steps | Statue in front of the Albuquerque Museum removed after an armed counter-protester shot a protester. | [219] [220] | |
Statue of Diego de Vargas | Santa Fe | New Mexico | Jun 17, 2020 | Jun 18, 2020 | Removal ordered by the mayor | Vargas is remembered for reconquering Santa Fe de Nuevo México after the Pueblo Revolt. The statue was removed from Cathedral Park under the direction of Mayor Alan Webber. | [221] | |
Kit Carson Obelisk | Santa Fe | New Mexico | Jun 18, 2020 | Removal ordered by the mayor | In front of federal courthouse | [222] | ||
Civil War Monument | Denver | Colorado | Jun 25, 2020 | Jun 25, 2020 | Toppled by protesters | The monument honors Colorado citizens who served in the Union Army. It listed battles against Native Americans in addition to battles against the Confederacy. Most controversially, it listed the Sand Creek massacre (a mass killing of Cheyenne and Arapaho Native Americans) as a battle. | [223] | |
American Indian War Memorial, or Soldiers Monument 1867/1868 | Santa Fe | New Mexico | Jun 25, 2020 | Oct 12, 2020 | Removal ordered by the mayor; toppled by protesters | The obelisk in the Santa Fe Plaza commemorated battles against Native Americans (formerly referred to as "savage Indians" in the inscription) as well as Union soldiers in the Civil War. Destroyed during Indigenous Peoples' Day protests. | [222] [224] [225] [226] | |
Statues of Junípero Serra After John Palo-Kangas, 1987 and 1988 | | Ventura | California | Jul 15, 2020 | Jul 26, 2020 | Removal voted 6–0 by Ventura City Council (includes wooden replica by local carvers). Previously agreed to by the Mayor and representatives of the Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians and Mission San Buenaventura. | 1936 commission in front of Ventura County Courthouse by the Works Progress Administration as part of the Federal Art Project | [227] [228] [229] [230] [231] |
Statue of Junípero Serra | San Francisco | California | Jun 19, 2020 | Jun 19, 2020 | Toppled by protesters | Was installed in Golden Gate Park | [232] | |
Statue of Junípero Serra | Los Angeles | California | Jun 20, 2020 | Jun 20, 2020 | Toppled by protesters | Was displayed on Olvera Street, the center of Los Angeles when it was Mexican. | [233] | |
Statue of Junípero Serra | San Luis Obispo | California | Jun 22, 2020 | Jun 22, 2020 | Removed by local mission personnel | Was displayed on grounds of the San Luis Obispo Mission | [234] [235] | |
Statue of Junípero Serra | Carmel | California | Jun 23, 2020 | Removed by city as a safeguarding measure | There are several statues of Serra in Carmel. This is the one by Jo Mora, at intersection of Serra Avenue with Camino Del Monte. | [236] | ||
Statue of Kit Carson, Pioneer Fountain | Denver | Colorado | Jun 26, 2020 | Jun 26, 2020 | Removed by city | The Carson statue was the third statue removed in Denver within two days; it was removed so as to prevent it from being toppled by protesters. | [237] | |
Statue of Junípero Serra | San Gabriel | California | Not announced | c. Jun 26, 2020 | Moved from the front of the mission to its garden, described as "away from public view" | [238] | ||
Statue of Junípero Serra | Sacramento | California | Jul 4, 2020 | Toppled by protesters; put into storage | Part of California State Capitol Museum's exhibit in Capitol Park near the California State Capitol | [239] | ||
Statue of John Mason | Windsor | Connecticut | Jul 6, 2020 | City must get approval from state, which owns the statue, in order to move it to the Windsor Historical Society | Mason is remembered for his role in the Pequot Massacre. | [240] | ||
Statue of Alexander Andreyevich Baranov | Sitka | Alaska | Jul 14, 2020 | Sitka Assembly voted 6–1 to move the statue from the front of Harrigan Centennial Hall into the Sitka Historical Museum | Baranov was a Chief Manager of the Russian-American Company involved in the Russian colonization of Alaska, including founding Sitka (as New Archangel) and Kodiak (as Pavlovskaya Gavan). He is said to have been involved in the genocide of the native Tlingit and Aleut people. | [241] [242] | ||
Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider Alexander Phimister Proctor, 1922 | Portland | Oregon | — | Oct 11, 2020 | Toppled by protesters | Toppled in a protest (referred to as the "Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage") against Columbus Day. Roosevelt is recorded as having had a hostile attitude toward Native Americans. | [243] [244] | |
Statue of Abraham Lincoln George Fite Waters, 1926 | Portland | Oregon | — | Oct 11, 2020 | Toppled by protesters | This statue was toppled shortly after that of Roosevelt nearby. "Dakota 38" was spray-painted on the pedestal, a reference to Lincoln's approving the execution of 38 Dakota men after the Dakota War of 1862. | [244] [245] |
Several statues of Christopher Columbus, the initiator of the European colonization of the Americas, have been removed because of his alleged enslavement of and systemic violence against the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, including the genocide of the Taíno people.
Monument/memorial | City | State | Removal announced | Removed | Means of removal | Notes | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Statue Ferruccio Legnaioli, 1926 | Richmond | Virginia | Jun 9, 2020 | Jun 9, 2020 | Toppled by protesters | The statue was toppled, lit on fire, and dumped in a nearby lake by protesters who stated that they were acting in solidarity with Native Americans. | [246] [247] [248] | |
Statue Carlo Brioschi, 1931 | St. Paul | Minnesota | Jun 10, 2020 | Jun 10, 2020 | Toppled by protesters | The statue, located next to the Minnesota State Capitol, was toppled by members of the American Indian Movement. | [249] [250] | |
Statue Andrew J. Mazzola, 1979 | Boston | Massachusetts | — | Jun 11, 2020 | Decapitated by protesters, removed by city | The statue was removed following vandalism and a review | [251] [252] | |
Statue 1915 | Camden | New Jersey | Jun 11, 2020 | Jun 11, 2020 | Removed by city | Removal ordered by mayor Frank Moran after many years of vandalism. | [253] [254] | |
Statue Joe Incrapera, 1992 | Houston | Texas | Jun 11, 2020 | Jun 19, 2020 | Removed by city | The statue was removed from Bell Park a week after being vandalized with red paint and having a hand cut off. | [255] [256] | |
Statue Armand Battelli, 1928 | New London | Connecticut | Jun 11, 2020 | — | Mayor ordered removal | The statue will be removed pending a review | [257] [258] | |
Statue Egidio Giaroli, 1957 | Wilmington | Delaware | Jun 12, 2020 | Jun 12, 2020 | Removed by city | Removal ordered by mayor Mike Purzycki to be stored while the display of the statue is discussed. | [259] [260] | |
Statue Estelle Hampton Frierson and Stavros Alexander Chrysostomides, 1992 | Columbia | South Carolina | Jun 12, 2020 | Jun 12, 2020 | Removed by city | Removal and storage ordered by mayor Steve Benjamin and City Council. | [261] [262] | |
Statue Mario Zamora, 1989 | Chula Vista | California | — | Jun 12, 2020 | Removed by city | The city put the statue in storage ahead of a protest on June 12, 2020. On May 5, 2021, the Chula Vista City Council voted to permanently remove the statue. [263] In November 2022, Discovery Park was renamed Kumeyaay Park of Chula Vista (see below). | [264] [265] [266] | |
Statue Jerry T. Williams, 1996 | Middletown | Connecticut | — | Jun 13, 2020 | City of Middletown removed statue | Statue was already slated to be stored due to maintenance work at the park | [267] [268] | |
Monument 1992 | West Orange | New Jersey | Jun 13, 2020 | — | Removal ordered by West Orange Mayor Robert Parisi | No final removal date has yet been announced. | [269] | |
Bust Augusto Rivalta, 1910 | Detroit | Michigan | Jun 15, 2020 | Jun 15, 2020 | Removed by city | Removal and storage ordered by mayor Mike Duggan. | [270] [271] | |
Statue Vincenzo Miserendino, 1926 | Hartford | Connecticut | Jun 15, 2020 | Jun 29, 2020 | Mayor Luke Bronin announced that the statue near the Connecticut State Capitol would be removed. | [272] [273] [274] | ||
Statue 1952 (recast of an 1892 original) | New Haven | Connecticut | Jun 15, 2020 | Jun 24, 2020 | Removed by city | [275] [273] [276] | ||
Statue Alfred Solani, c. 1950s | Columbus | Ohio | Jun 16, 2020 | Jun 19, 2020 | Removal ordered by college | Removal announced by Columbus State Community College's president of the board of trustees, to be stored while the future of the statue is discussed. | [277] [278] [279] | |
Statue Ferdinand von Miller II, 1884 | St. Louis | Missouri | Jun 16, 2020 | Jun 16, 2020 | Removed by city | Removal ordered by St. Louis Park Board | [280] [281] | |
Columbus' Last Appeal to Queen Isabella Larkin Goldsmith Mead, 1868–1874 | Sacramento | California | Jun 16, 2020 | Jul 7, 2020 | Removal ordered by California State Legislature | The sculptural group, installed in the California State Capitol in 1883, shows Columbus persuading Isabella I of Castile to fund his 1492 voyage. | [282] [283] [284] [285] [286] | |
Statue Vittorio di Colbertaldo, 1957 | San Francisco | California | Jun 18, 2020 | Jun 18, 2020 | Removed by the San Francisco Arts Commission | The statue, located next to Coit Tower, was removed by the City ahead of a planned Juneteenth protest to throw it into the San Francisco Bay. | [287] | |
Statue Edoardo Alfieri, 1955 | Columbus | Ohio | Jun 18, 2020 | Jul 1, 2020 | Removal ordered by city | Removal announced by the City of Columbus. | [288] [289] [290] | |
Statue Emanuele Caroni, c. 1875 | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | Jun 24, 2020 | Removal announced by Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney. Shrouded. | On August 12, 2020, the Philadelphia Art Commission issued an order to remove the statue from Marconi Plaza and to place it in temporary storage. This followed an endorsement of a city proposal, two weeks prior, by the Philadelphia Historical Commission, to remove the statue, citing public safety and susceptibility of damage to the statue as a result of the George Floyd protests. A judge later halted the order, while a legal battle continues in the courts. [291] Citing preservation of the statue pending a final decision, the City of Philadelphia had it boxed. On August 17, 2021, a judge from Philadelphia Common Pleas Court ruled the decision for removing the statue to be without legal merit. [292] | [293] [294] | ||
Statue c. 1940 | Norwalk | Connecticut | Jun 25, 2020 | Jun 25, 2020 | Removed by city | [295] [296] | ||
Statue Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, 1893 | Providence | Rhode Island | Jun 25, 2020 | Jun 25, 2020 | Removed by city | Purchased by Joseph Paolino, a former mayor of Providence, and reinstalled in the nearby town of Johnston in 2023. | [297] [298] [299] [300] | |
Statue Giuseppe Ciochetti, 1927 | Newark | New Jersey | Jun 25, 2020 | Jun 25, 2020 | Removed by city | The statue was removed from Washington Park due to the risk of people injuring themselves trying to topple it. The statue will be kept in storage until a final determination is reached regarding the statue's fate. | [301] [302] | |
Statue William F. Joseph, 1970 | Denver | Colorado | Jun 26, 2020 | Jun 26, 2020 | Removed by protesters | The statue was originally placed in front of the Denver Civic Center in the 1970s. | [303] [304] | |
Statue Gaetano Chiaromonte, 1958 | Atlantic City | New Jersey | Jun 28, 2020 | Being removed "to avert potential vandalism" | [305] [306] | |||
Statue Armando Dattelli, 1957 | San Antonio | Texas | Jun 30, 2020 | Jul 1, 2020 | Removed by city | [307] [308] [309] | ||
Statue Frank Gaylord, 1984 | Waterbury | Connecticut | Jul 4, 2020 (reported) | Decapitated; later repaired | Located outside Waterbury City Hall | [310] [311] [312] | ||
Statue Mauro Bigarani, 1984 | Baltimore | Maryland | Jul 4, 2020 | Toppled by protesters | After the statue was toppled from its base, it was dumped into Baltimore's Inner Harbor. | [313] | ||
Statue Clemente Spampinato, 1964 | Bridgeport | Connecticut | Not announced | Jul 6, 2020 | Removed by city | Placed in storage following removal. | [314] [315] [316] | |
Statue 1992 | Columbus | Wisconsin | Jul 6, 2020 | City Council voted to put it in storage until another home is found | [317] [318] | |||
Statue 1959 | Trenton | New Jersey | Jul 7, 2020 | Jul 8, 2020 | Removed by city | [319] | ||
Relief on the Italian Heritage Monument | Norwich | Connecticut | Jun 24, 2020 | Planned for September | Removal ordered by Norwich Italian Heritage & Cultural Community | The portrayal of Columbus was ordered to be removed in order to protect the monument from vandalism. The relief will be replaced with a statement honoring Italian immigrants to Norwich. | [320] | |
Statue Giovanni Polizzi, 1952 | Buffalo | New York | Jul 10, 2020 | Jul 10, 2020 | Removed by city | Columbus Park, where the statue was located, will be renamed as well. | [321] [322] | |
Statue Carlo Brioschi, 1933 Statue Moses Jacob Ezekiel, 1891 | | Chicago | Illinois | Jul 24, 2020 | Jul 24, 2020 | Removed by city | Statues in Grant Park and Little Italy's Arrigo Park ordered removed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot amid continued protests and the deployment of federal forces to Chicago over Lightfoot's objections. | [323] [324] [325] [326] |
Statue Richard Henry Park, 1893 | Chicago | Illinois | Jul 31, 2020 | Jul 30, 2020 | Removed by city | A 7-foot tall statue of Columbus, part of the Drake Fountain, was removed on the orders of Mayor Lori Lightfoot. It was the last known monument to Columbus in the city. | [327] [328] | |
Statue Laura Bradley Park, 1947 | Peoria | Illinois | Sep 24, 2020 | Oct 9, 2020 | Removed by city | [329] [330] | ||
Statue Frank Vittor, 1958 | Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania | Oct 28, 2020 | Removal approved by Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and Pittsburgh Art Commission. Shrouded. | Pending outcome of lawsuit | [331] | ||
Park | Chula Vista | California | Nov 1, 2022 | Renamed by city | Nearly three years after the Statue of Christopher Columbus was removed from the park (see above) the Chula Vista City Council voted unanimously to rename the park that references Columbus's apocryphal discovery of America to Kumeyaay Park of Chula Vista to honor the aboriginal title holders of the land it is in. | [266] |
Monument/memorial | City | State | Removal announced | Removed | Means of removal | Notes | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Statue of Edward W. Carmack | Nashville | Tennessee | — | May 30, 2020 | Toppled by protesters | Senator Carmack was an opponent of Ida B. Wells and encouraged retaliation for her support of the civil rights movement. | [332] | |
Statue of Frank Rizzo | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | Jun 3, 2020 | Removed by city. Mural of Rizzo painted over (see below, under Other artworks). | At about 2 am, the statue of Philadelphia police chief and mayor Frank Rizzo was removed. | [333] [334] [335] | ||
One Riot, One Ranger | Dallas | Texas | Jun 4, 2020 | Jun 4, 2020 | Removed by city | Statue model helped prevent black students from enrolling in public schools. | [336] [337] [338] | |
Statue of Orville L. Hubbard | Dearborn | Michigan | — | Jun 5, 2020 | Hubbard, the mayor of Dearborn for 35 years, was an outspoken segregationist. | [339] | ||
Statue of Jerry Richardson | Charlotte | North Carolina | Jun 10, 2020 | Jun 10, 2020 | Removed by Carolina Panthers | Richardson was alleged to be racist and sexist. The statue was removed from the Bank of America Stadium for fear it would be destroyed by protesters. | [340] | |
Bust of Avery Brundage | San Francisco | California | Removed by museum | Brundage was a founding patron of the Asian Art Museum, Alleged white supremacist and anti-semite as well as 5th IOC president who expelled Tommie Smith and John Carlos from the 1968 Summer Olympics for raising black-gloved fists while on the podium. Bust moved from prominent position in foyer of museum to storage. | [341] [342] [343] | |||
Richmond Police Memorial | Richmond | Virginia | Jun 11, 2020 | Jun 11, 2020 | Removed by city after being vandalized by protesters | Dedicated to Richmond police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty. Removed from Byrd Park after repeated vandalization. The mayor's office stated the statue would be restored and reinstalled. | [344] | |
Statue of Philip Schuyler | Albany | New York | Jun 11, 2020 | — | Plans for removal by city | Removal ordered by mayor Kathy Sheehan due to the fact that Schuyler owned slaves. | [345] | |
Delaware Law Enforcement Memorial | Dover | Delaware | — | Jun 12, 2020 | Vandalized by protesters, removed by city for restoration | Statue partially decapitated. The adjacent memorial wall was unaffected. | [346] | |
Equestrian statue of Caesar Rodney | Wilmington | Delaware | Jun 12, 2020 | Jun 12, 2020 | Removed by city | Rodney was a slave owner. Removal ordered by mayor Mike Purzycki to be stored while the display of the statue is discussed. | [260] | |
Bust of John McDonogh | New Orleans | Louisiana | — | Jun 13, 2020 | Removed by protesters | Protesters removed the bust from Duncan Plaza and rolled it into the Mississippi River. | [347] | |
The Pioneer | Eugene | Oregon | — | Jun 13, 2020 | Toppled and dragged by protesters | The University of Oregon placed its two Pioneer statues in storage on June 14 [348] | [349] | |
The Pioneer Mother | Eugene | Oregon | — | Jun 13, 2020 | Toppled by protesters | The University of Oregon placed its two Pioneer statues in storage on June 14 [348] | [349] | |
Statue of Thomas Jefferson at Jefferson High School | Portland | Oregon | — | Jun 14, 2020 | Toppled after Black Lives Matter protest, allegedly by people unassociated with protest | 1916 bronze replica of 1911 statue by Karl Bitter | [350] | |
Statue of Josephus Daniels | Raleigh | North Carolina | Jun 16, 2020 | Jun 16, 2020 | Removed by Daniels's descendants | The statue was located near The News & Observer building, which is scheduled to be demolished. Daniels's family claims to have acted on their own accord rather than on pressure from activists, and will keep the statue in storage until a decision is made on its ultimate fate. | [351] | |
Statue of John Sutter | Sacramento | California | Jun 16, 2020 | Jun 16, 2020 | Removed by Sutter Health | The statue was located in front of Sutter General Hospital. Sutter was a California Gold Rush pioneer who enslaved Native Americans. | [352] | |
Monument to William Clark | See image | Portland | Oregon | June 17–18, 2020 | Removed by the University of Portland | The university removed the monument "as a precaution". | [353] | |
Statue of George Washington | Portland | Oregon | — | Jun 18, 2020 | Toppled by protesters | [354] | ||
Statue of Francis Scott Key | San Francisco | California | — | Jun 18, 2020 | Toppled by protesters | Part of a group of statues toppled in Golden Gate Park. | [232] | |
Bust of Ulysses S. Grant | San Francisco | California | — | Jun 18, 2020 | Toppled by protesters | Part of a group of statues toppled in Golden Gate Park. | [232] | |
Statue of Calvin Griffith | Minneapolis | Minnesota | — | Removed by Minnesota Twins | Griffith was the former owner of the Minnesota Twins; the statue was removed due to racist statements made by Griffith in 1978 suggesting he moved the team to Minnesota due to the low number of African-American residents. | [355] | ||
Monument to George Preston Marshall | Washington | District of Columbia | — | Jun 19, 2020 | Removed by Events DC | Removed from Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium. Washington Redskins' front office was not consulted. | [356] [357] [358] [359] | |
Statue of Thomas Jefferson | Decatur | Georgia | Jun 19, 2020 | Jun 19, 2020 | Removed by city | The statue was previously located in front of the old city courthouse. A city official claimed the statue was removed to protect it from damage. | [360] | |
Equestrian Statue of Theodore Roosevelt | New York City | New York | Jun 20, 2020 | Jan 19, 2022 | Removed by the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, moving from city-owned land to the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation | Theodore Roosevelt on horseback accompanied by walking figures of two men, one a Native American and one African; in front of the American Museum of Natural History. | [361] [362] | |
Forward | Madison | Wisconsin | — | Jun 23, 2020 | Removed by protesters. Later restored. | "Forward" is the motto of the state of Wisconsin. A 1998 bronze replica of a commissioned 1893 work of the Wisconsin female artist Jean Pond Miner. Repaired and restored to its original site on 21 September 2021. | [364] | |
John C. Calhoun Monument | Charleston | South Carolina | Jun 22, 2020 | Jun 23, 2020 | Removed by city | Calhoun was a leading advocate of slavery. The statue may be placed back on display at "an appropriate site" such as a museum. | [366] | |
Statue of Thomas Jefferson | Hempstead | New York | Jun 23, 2020 | Moved by university | Statue at Hofstra University moved from student center main entrance to university museum. | [367] | ||
Statue of Hans Christian Heg | Madison | Wisconsin | — | Jun 23, 2020 | Removed by protesters. Later restored. | Heg was a Union Army colonel in the Civil War, and an abolitionist. His statue was decapitated and thrown into a lake by protesters. Two protesters interviewed by the media alleged that toppling the statue was to draw attention to their view of Wisconsin as being racially unjust. The statue was repaired and restored to its original location on September 21, 2021. | [368] [369] [370] | |
Emancipation Memorial (replica) | Boston | Massachusetts | Jun 30, 2020 | Dec 29, 2020 | [371] [372] | |||
Thompson Elk Fountain | Portland | Oregon | Jul 1, 2020 | Statue removed by city after fires set by protesters seriously damaged its base. Base has been mostly dismantled. | [373] [374] [375] | |||
Statue of George Whitefield | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | Jul 2, 2020 | Whitefield was a supporter of slavery. | [376] | |||
Statue of Frederick Douglass | Rochester | New York | — | Jul 5, 2020 | Torn down by unknown perpetrators. Later restored. | Maplewood Park is a site along the Underground Railroad where Douglass and Harriet Tubman helped shuttle slaves to freedom. Removal occurred on the anniversary of Douglass's famous 1852 "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" speech in Rochester. | [377] [378] [379] | |
Statue of Andrew Jackson | Jackson | Mississippi | Jul 7, 2020 | City Council voted to remove statue in front of City Hall. | [380] | |||
Statue of Thomas Ruffin | Raleigh | North Carolina | Not announced | Jul 13, 2020 | Was in front of North Carolina Court of Appeals. Removed by Court. | Ruffin, a Chief Justice, was a slaveowner and author of pro-slavery rulings. | [381] | |
Statue of Hiawatha | La Crosse | Wisconsin | Jul 13, 2020 | Mayor has asked for its removal following request of sculptor's family. | [382] | |||
Statue of Jesus Christ | Miami | Florida | Jul 15, 2020 (discovered) | Decapitated and knocked off a pedestal. | At Good Shepherd Catholic Church. | [383] | ||
Statue of the Virgin Mary | Chattanooga | Tennessee | Jul 15, 2020 (discovered) | Statue was torn down and decapitated; head stolen. | The motive for the destruction is unknown. Local police stated that the toppling is a possible hate crime. | [384] | ||
Monument to the 77th New York Volunteer Infantry (Union Army unit) | Saratoga Springs | New York | Jul 16, 2020 (discovered) | Statue was torn off pedestal and destroyed. | The motive and perpetrator behind the destruction are both unknown. The statue was located in a park where many other monuments have historically been vandalized. | [385] [386] | ||
Bust of Roger B. Taney | Washington | District of Columbia | Jul 22, 2020 | Voted by the House of Representatives | The bust of Chief Justice Taney, outside the Old Supreme Court Chamber, will be replaced with a bust of Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court Justice. Taney wrote the majority opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford , stating that African Americans were not citizens and had no rights. | [387] | ||
Statue of Francis Drake Dennis Patton, 1990 | Larkspur | California | Jul 29, 2020 | Jul 29, 2020 | Removed by city | The statue was removed by the city authorities, some of whom cited safety concerns. The statue became a target for vandalism because of Sir Francis Drake's association with colonialism, the transatlantic slave trade, and piracy. | [388] [389] [390] [391] | |
Statue of Louis XVI Achille Valois, 1829 | Louisville | Kentucky | Sep 3, 2020 | Removed by city | Citing protest-related vandalism damage and possible protester injuries during further vandalism attempts, officials decided to store the statue indefinitely. Mayor Greg Fischer said that it may be repaired and placed back on display. | [392] [393] | ||
Statue of Harvey W. Scott Gutzon Borglum, 1933 | Portland | Oregon | — | Oct 20, 2020 | Toppled by protestors | The statue was located on Mount Tabor, and was replaced by the bust of York, which was created by Todd McGrain and installed without authorization by the City of Portland. The bust was also toppled and later removed. [394] | [395] | |
Statue of John O'Donnell Tylden Streett, 1980 | Canton, Baltimore | Maryland | Apr 5, 2021 | Removed to an undisclosed location | O'Donnell founded Canton in 1786 as a slave plantation. | [396] [397] | ||
Memorial to Meriwether Lewis and William Clark Charles Keck, 1919 | Charlottesville | Virginia | Jul 10, 2021 | Jul 10, 2021 | Removed by city | The sculpture shows Sacagawea in a submissive pose. The decision to remove the monument was made in an emergency meeting of Charlottesville City Council, when the contracting company which had removed two Confederate statues earlier that day offered to remove this monument at no extra cost. | [210] [398] [399] | |
Monument to George Rogers Clark Robert Ingersoll Aitken, 1921 | Charlottesville | Virginia | Jul 11, 2021 | Removed by the University of Virginia | Removed to storage a day after the dismantling of three other monuments in Charlottesville. The university will work with a committee to decide on a new site. | [400] [401] | ||
Statue of Walt Whitman | Camden | New Jersey | Jul 12, 2021 | The statue of the poet, prominently located in the Campus Center courtyard at Rutgers University–Camden, will be removed to another site on campus. | [402] | |||
Statue of Pete Wilson 2007 | San Diego | California | Oct 15, 2021 | Temporarily removed by Horton Walk, the nonprofit that owns the statue | Activists for racial justice and gay rights held a press conference in front of the statue on Broadway Circle at Horton Plaza Park on October 12, 2020, "in the wake of nationwide demands for the removal of statues of confederate generals and people who owned slaves". The statue was removed on October 15 due to "safety concerns". The president of the nonprofit that owns the statue later issued a statement that the statue was reinstated on November 30 and that it was a "symbol of all that is great about San Diego". Wilson has been widely criticized for signing Proposition 187 and the Three Strikes Law. | [403] [404] [405] | ||
Statue of Thomas Jefferson Pierre-Jean David d'Angers, 1834 | New York City | New York | Oct 19, 2021 | Nov 22, 2021 | Removed to the New-York Historical Society | On October 18, the city's Public Design Commission voted unanimously to remove the statue in the New York City Council chamber. | [406] [407] | |
Monument to Thomas Fallon Robert Glen, 1990 | San Jose | California | Nov 10, 2021 | San Jose City Council voted unanimously on November 9 to remove the monument. | [408] |
The Royal African Company, which engaged in African slave trading between 1662 and 1731, [411] enslaved and shipped more Africans to the Americas than any other institution in the history of the Atlantic slave trade. [412]
Monument/memorial | Location | Removal announced | Removed | Means of removal | Notes | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Statue of Edward Colston John Cassidy, 1895 | Bristol | — | Jun 7, 2020 | Toppled by protesters | The statue of Edward Colston, a slave trader, was toppled and thrown into Bristol Harbour by protesters. The statue was fished out, but the city council did not reinstall it, waiting for a democratic decision from the people of Bristol on what to do with it. On July 15, it was briefly replaced by Marc Quinn's A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020 , a sculpture of a protester who had been photographed standing on the vacant plinth with her fist raised; the council removed this work the next day. In June 2021, the defaced statue was put on display at the city's M Shed museum. | [413] [414] [415] [416] | |
Statue of Robert Milligan Richard Westmacott, 1813 | London | Jun 9, 2020 | Jun 9, 2020 | Removed by local authorities | Statue of Robert Milligan, a Scottish merchant and slave trader, outside the Museum of London Docklands. It was removed following a request from the Canal & River Trust. | [417] [418] | |
Statue of Sir John Cass | London | Jun 11, 2020 | Jun 11, 2020 | Removed by owner | Statue of Sir John Cass at the University of East London Stratford Campus. | [419] [420] | |
Statue of Sir Robert Clayton Grinling Gibbons, 1714 | London | Jun 11, 2020 | — | Plans for removal by owner | Statue of Sir Robert Clayton at St Thomas' Hospital. On June 11 the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, the Guy's and St Thomas' Charity, and King's College London issued a joint statement announcing that the statues of Clayton and Thomas Guy would be removed from public view. | [421] [422] | |
Statue of Thomas Guy Peter Scheemakers, 1734 | London | Jun 11, 2020 | — | Plans for removal by owner | Statue of Thomas Guy at Guy's Hospital. On June 11 the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, the Guy's and St Thomas' Charity, and King's College London issued a joint statement announcing that the statues of Guy and Sir Robert Clayton would be removed from public view. | [423] [422] | |
Statue of Sir John Cass 1998 (After Louis-François Roubiliac, 1751) | London | Jun 12, 2020 | Before July 19, 2020 | Removed by owner | Statue of Sir John Cass on the façade of 31 Jewry Street in the City of London, the headquarters of Sir John Cass's Foundation. This statue is a fiberglass replica of the original. | [419] | |
Statue and bust of Sir John Cass | London | Jun 16, 2020 | Removed by owner | Statue and bust of Sir John Cass at Sir John Cass Redcoat School, Stepney. The school's governing body voted unanimously on June 16 for the immediate removal of the sculptures. The school has since changed its name to Stepney All Saints School. | [426] [427] | ||
Bust of Sir John Cass | London | Jun 18, 2020 | Jun 18, 2020 | Removed by church | Bust of Sir John Cass in St Botolph's Church, Aldgate. | [428] [429] | |
Statue of Sir Thomas Picton T. Mewburn Crook, 1916 | Cardiff | Jul 23, 2020 | — | Plans for removal by owner | On July 23, Cardiff Council voted to remove the statue from the gallery of Welsh heroes inside City Hall, on account of Picton's links to the slave trade, and his authorizing of the torture of a 14-year-old girl while Governor of Trinidad. Immediately following the vote, the statue was encased in wooden boards to hide it from view until it could be removed. | [430] [431] [432] | |
Bust of Sir Hans Sloane John Michael Rysbrack, 1730s | London | Not announced | Aug 25, 2020 (newspaper story) | Relocated by the British Museum | Sloane was a slave owner and partly funded his collection, which became the founding collection of the British Museum, from enslaved labour on Jamaican sugar plantations. His bust in the museum's Enlightenment gallery was moved to a display case in the same gallery stressing his connections to colonialism and slavery. | [433] [434] [435] [436] | |
Monument to John Gordon | Dorchester | Sep 24, 2020 | May 19, 2023 | Removed by parochial church council (PCC) and given to local museum | Wall monument in St. Peter's Church to John Gordon, who played a role in suppressing Tacky's Revolt, a slave rebellion in Jamaica in 1760. The PCC voted to remove the monument and offer it to a museum. After going through the church planning process, the monument was finally removed on May 19, 2023 and given to Dorset Museum. A replacement monument will bear the details of Gordon's life and death only, with no mention of the uprising. | [437] [438] [439] |
Monument/memorial | Location | Removal announced | Removed | Means of removal | Notes | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of Green Man inn sign 18th century | Ashbourne, Derbyshire | c.Jun 7, 2020 | Jun 8, 2020 | Removed by local residents | Wooden sculpture of a caricatured "black's head". After a Facebook petition calling for its removal attracted close to 30,000 signatures, the district council announced that on June 9 it would be removing the sculpture. Before this could happen, it was removed by two local residents on the night of June 8. | [440] [441] | |
Dunham Massey sundial Attr. to Andries Carpentière, c. 1735 | Trafford, Greater Manchester | Jun 11, 2020 | Jun 11, 2020 | Removed by the National Trust | Statue of an exoticized black man (described as "degrading"), in a kneeling position and carrying a sundial, formerly installed in the forecourt of Dunham Massey Hall. | [442] [443] [444] | |
Headstones of G. H. Elliott (pictured) and Alice Banford 1962 | Rottingdean, East Sussex | Jun 16, 2020 | Jun 15, 2020 | Removed after authorization by the Chancellor of Chichester Diocese | The gravestones of the music hall singers, who performed in blackface and were described on the stones as "The Chocolate Coloured Coon" and "Coon Dancer" respectively, were removed from St Margaret's Churchyard to a secure place. | [445] | |
Pet gravestone at Coombe Abbey Park 1902 | Rugby, Warwickshire | — | Before Jul 2, 2020 | Removed by Coventry City Council | In July 2019 a visitor to the park reported the name "Nigger" inscribed on the gravestone of a pet dog, but no action was taken at the time. After its absence was noticed following the George Floyd protests, the council (which operates the park) confirmed that it had removed the gravestone. | [446] | |
Headstone for the dog Nigger 1943 | RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire | — | Jul 16, 2020 | Removed by the Royal Air Force | The headstone for the grave of Guy Gibson's dog was replaced, removing any mention of the dog's name. | [447] [448] | |
A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020 Marc Quinn and Jen Reid, 2020 | Bristol | Jul 16, 2020 | Jul 16, 2020 | Removed by Bristol City Council because the sculpture had been placed without permission on the plinth of the statue of Edward Colston | Black resin sculpture by Marc Quinn and Jen Reid. It depicts Reid, a young black woman protester, raising her arm in a Black Power salute, reproducing a photo of her on the plinth, taken just after the removal of the previous statue by protesters. | [415] |
King Leopold II of Belgium personally ruled the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908, treating it as his personal property. During this period, many well-documented atrocities were perpetrated against the population, including the severing of hands of workers unable to meet a production quota for rubber, and the destruction of entire villages that were unwilling to participate in the forced labour regime. These acts contributed to a genocide during this period, often estimated at between five million and ten million.
Monument/memorial | Location | Removal announced | Removed | Means of removal | Notes | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Statue of Leopold II Joseph Jacques Ducaju, 1873 | Ekeren, Antwerp | Jun 9, 2020 | Jun 9, 2020 | Removed by municipality | Removed after it had been vandalized and set on fire. | [449] [450] [451] | |
Bust of Leopold II | Mons | Jun 10, 2020 | Removed by university authorities | Removed from the Faculty of Economics and Management at the University of Mons following an online petition for its removal. Permanently placed in storage. | [452] [453] | ||
Bust of Leopold II | Auderghem, Brussels | — | Jun 11, 2020 | Toppled during the night | The bust was pulled down, red paint was splashed on it, and a photograph of Patrice Lumumba, the independent Congo's first prime minister, was placed on the pedestal. | [454] | |
Bust of Leopold II | Leuven | — | Removed by university authorities | Removed from University Library at KU Leuven. Placed in storage. [lower-alpha 2] | [455] [456] | ||
Bust of Leopold II | Ghent | — | Jun 30, 2020 | Removed by crane following a short ceremony | Removed from Zuidpark on the 60th anniversary of Congo's independence, and moved to a warehouse in STAM. | [457] [458] [459] |
Royal Navy officer John Fane Charles Hamilton, after whom the city of Hamilton is named, played a prominent part in the Tauranga campaign of the New Zealand Wars.
Monument/memorial | Location | Removal announced | Removed | Means of removal | Notes | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Statue of John Fane Charles Hamilton Margriet Windhausen, 2013 | Hamilton | Jun 12, 2020 | Jun 12, 2020 | Removed by city | City Council announced removal after request by Maori tribal confederation Waikato Tainui. | [460] [461] [462] |
Statues that come down in South Africa were preceded by and done in the context of the Rhodes Must Fall movement that resulted in the removal of a statue of Cecil Rhodes at the University of Cape Town.
Monument/memorial | Location | Removal announced | Removed | Means of removal | Notes | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Statue of Martinus Theunis Steyn Anton van Wouw, 1929 | Bloemfontein | Not announced | Jun 27, 2020 | The statue, which "dominated" the main campus of the University of the Free State, was moved to the Anglo-Boer War Museum. | [463] [464] | ||
Bust of Cecil Rhodes, at the Rhodes Memorial John Macallan Swan, 1912 | Cape Town | Not announced | Jul 13, 2020 (discovered) | Removed after being decapitated by protesters. | The head was repaired and reattached in September 2020. | [465] [466] [467] [468] [469] |
Monument/memorial | Location | Removal announced | Removed | Means of removal | Notes | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Equestrian statue of Mark Cubbon Carlo Marochetti, 1866 | Bangalore | Jun 28, 2020 | A controversial statue of Sir Mark Cubbon, an English colonial administrator, was moved from front of the High Court of Karnataka building to Sri Chamarajendra Park. See Mark Cubbon#Death and legacy. | [470] [471] [472] |
On May 22, 2020, before the murder of George Floyd, two statues of Victor Schœlcher were torn down in Martinique, an overseas department of France. [473] Further colonial monuments in the overseas departments were targeted later in the year and in 2021; those which were mutilated in the period after May 25, 2020, are listed here.
The French president Emmanuel Macron declared his opposition to removing statues relating to France's colonial history on June 14, 2020. [474]
Monument/memorial | Location | Region | Removal announced | Removed | Means of removal | Notes | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bust of Victor Schœlcher | Basse-Terre | Guadeloupe | — | Night of Jul 23–24, 2020 | Decapitated | The bust was stolen overnight, and discovered more than 40 kilometers away the following morning. | [ citation needed ] | |
Statue of the Empress Joséphine Gabriel Vital Dubray, 1859 | Fort-de-France | Martinique | — | Jul 26, 2020 | Toppled by protesters | Joséphine, the first wife of Napoleon, was born on Martinique to a family that owned a sugar plantation. This statue was commissioned by her grandson Napoleon III, and had been missing its head since 1991. | [473] [475] | |
Statue of Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc 1935 | Fort-de-France | Martinique | — | Jul 26, 2020 | Destroyed by protesters | Belain founded the French colony at Martinique in 1635. In a video posted on social media, activists warned that the statues of Belain and Joséphine would be targeted unless they were officially removed by July 26. | [473] [476] | |
Statue of Voltaire Léon-Ernest Drivier | Paris | Île-de-France | Aug 17, 2020 | c. Aug 17, 2020 | Removed by city authorities | The philosophe invested in the French East India Company in the 1740s, when it was engaged in the Atlantic slave trade. His statue in the Square Honoré-Champion was said to have been removed temporarily for conservation; it will be re-erected at another location. | [477] [478] [479] | |
Memorial to Victor Schœlcher 1998 | Le Diamant | Martinique | — | Mar 5, 2021 | Decapitated | The monument had been erected to mark the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery on Martinique; there are no plans to replace it. | [480] |
Monument/memorial | Location | Removal announced | Removed | Means of removal | Notes | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Statue of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson Sir Richard Westmacott, 1813 | Bridgetown | Jul 24, 2020 | Nov 16, 2020 | Removed by government | On July 24 John King, the Minister with responsibility for Culture, announced that the statue would be removed during the national Season of Emancipation, which came to an end on August 23. The removal was postponed in order to concentrate available funds on completing and opening a park in Saint Thomas, and eventually occurred on the International Day for Tolerance. The statue will be rehoused in the Barbados Museum. | [481] [482] [483] [484] [485] |
In Canada, removed statues were attacked in a general anticolonialism context rather than being directly linked to the typical BLM targets in Britain or the United States.
Monument/memorial | Location | Province | Removal announced | Removed | Means of removal | Notes | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A Canadian Conversation Sir John A. Macdonald Ruth Abernethy, 2016 | Baden | Ontario | Jul 27, 2020 | c. September 3, 2020 | Put into storage | Wilmot Township Council voted on July 27 for the statue's immediate removal. | [486] [487] [488] | |
Monument to Sir John A. Macdonald George Edward Wade, 1895 | Montreal | Quebec | — | Aug 30, 2020 | Statue toppled and decapitated by protesters | The toppling occurred during a Defund the Police protest; the statue had been a target of vandalism in the past. | [489] [490] |
Monument/memorial | Location | Removal announced | Removed | Means of removal | Notes | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Égyptienne and Négresse statues Mathurin Moreau, 1867 | Dublin | Jul 27, 2020 | Jul 27, 2020 | Removed by owners | The Shelbourne Hotel on St. Stephen's Green removed the four exterior statues "in light of recent world events". The statues have been said to represent "two Nubian Princesses and their shackled slave girls", a view which may derive from a 1951 book on the hotel by Elizabeth Bowen. After an examination by UCD art history professor Paula Murphy concluded that the statues were not representations of slaves and that the "shackles" were golden anklets indicating aristocratic status, it was announced that they would be restored to their plinths. They were reinstated on December 14. | [491] [492] [493] [494] |
Monument/memorial | Location | Department | Removal announced | Removed | Means of removal | Notes | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Equestrian statue of Sebastián de Belalcázar Victorio Macho, 1937 | Popayán | Cauca | Sep 16, 2020 | Toppled by protesters | Toppled and decapitated by members of the Misak indigenous community. Belalcázar was a Spanish conquistador credited with the foundation of important cities in modern-day Colombia and Ecuador. The monument was located on top of Morro del Tulcán, an indigenous archaeological site. | [495] |
Some officials have announced their decisions to remove monuments under their jurisdiction, and are currently working to push through whatever legislative or permission barriers they need to accomplish their goals.
Artwork | City | State | Removal announced | Removed | Means of removal | Notes | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ceiling mural in the lobby of McGill–Toolen Catholic High School | Mobile | Alabama | Jun 3, 2020 | Jun 3, 2020 | Removed by school | A mural in McGill–Toolen Catholic High School reproduces the former seal of Mobile, which included the Confederate flag. The Archdiocese of Mobile painted over the Confederate flag section so that it now resembles the Alabama state flag. | [508] | |
Fresco in Memorial Hall | Lexington | Kentucky | Jun 5, 2020 | — | Plans for removal by school | The fresco in the foyer of University of Kentucky's Memorial Hall has been criticized for its romanticized depiction of African-American slaves. The University President announced that it would be removed. However, there has been considerable opposition. | [509] [510] [511] [512] | |
Frank Rizzo Mural | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | Jun 7, 2020 | Jun 7, 2020 | Painted over by city | Mural painted over in the early morning. | [513] [514] | |
America Receiving the Gifts of Nations | Camden | New Jersey | Jun 18, 2020 | Reported covered on June 23 | Covered by university | The mosaic on the façade of the main entrance to the former Cooper Branch Library, now a building of Rutgers University–Camden, depicts Columbus, and indigenous people in subservient positions. Obscured while the university explores long-term options. | [515] [516] [517] | |
Stained glass window in the Cathedral of the Rockies | Boise | Idaho | Jun 18, 2020 | — | Removal ordered by church | The stained glass window depicts Robert E. Lee standing next to George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. It will be donated to the Idaho Black History Museum if it is removed intact. | [518] | |
Four Confederate portraits in the United States Capitol | Washington | District of Columbia | Jun 18, 2020 | Jun 19, 2020 | Removal ordered by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi | Removal of portraits of four House Speakers who served in the Confederacy – Robert M. T. Hunter, Howell Cobb, James Lawrence Orr, and Charles Frederick Crisp (pictured) – on Juneteenth. | [519] | |
Baker Memorial Library weather vane Stanley Orcutt, 1928 (design) | Hanover | New Hampshire | Jun 15, 2020 | Jun 25, 2020 | Removed by university | The weather vane depicts a Native American sitting on the ground in front of Dartmouth College's founder, Eleazar Wheelock. The university's president, Philip J. Hanlon, stated that the portrayal of the Native American did not reflect Dartmouth's values. | [520] [521] [522] |
Artwork | Location | Removal announced | Removed | Means of removal | Notes | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stained glass windows in Bristol Cathedral and St Mary Redcliffe | Bristol | Jun 15, 2020 | Jun 16, 2020 | Removed by the Diocese of Bristol | Window panes commemorating Edward Colston at the parish church were removed, and similar panes at the cathedral have been covered up until they can be safely removed. | [523] | |
Sir Ronald Fisher window at Gonville and Caius College Maria Ulatowska McClafferty, 1989 | Cambridge | Jul 29, 2020 | — | Removed to storage by the college | The window commemorates Sir Ronald Fisher, a statistician and eugenicist. It is one of a series of windows marking scientific discoveries made by former members of the college, and depicts a Latin square, studied by Fisher. The college council decided on June 24 to remove the window, subject to listed building consent. | [524] [525] [526] | |
Portraits of governors and directors of the Bank of England | London | Aug 27, 2021 | — | Removed from display by the Bank | On June 18, 2020, the Bank announced a review of its collection of portraits of former governors and directors. This resulted in the removal from display of eight oil paintings and two busts of figures linked to the slave trade, including Gilbert Heathcote, James Bateman, Robert Bristow, Robert Clayton (pictured), William Dawsonne, William Manning and John Pearse. | [527] [528] |
In metropolitan France, one of the few artworks connected to racism removed in this period is a mural paying tribute to George Floyd and Adama Traoré. The death of Adama Traoré in 2016 caused the Justice pour Adama movement against racism and police violence, which was reactivated in 2020, inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States.
Artwork | City | Département | Removal announced | Removed | Means of removal | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mural in tribute to George Floyd and Adama Traoré | Stains | Seine-Saint-Denis | Jun 22, 2020 | — | The Seine-Saint-Denis prefect authorised the preservation of the mural itself, but ordered the Communist mayor of Stains to erase the phrase Contre le racisme et les violences policières ("Against racism and police violence") contained in it, or at least the reference to "police violence", because the police union "Alliance" felt offended, in a context where police violence cases have been multiplying in France since 2018. Since the mayor did not obey, the prefect repeated the order on July 3. On the night of July 4–5, the painting was vandalized. | The mural depicts the faces of Adama Traoré and George Floyd in shades of grey and standing out from a sunny blue sky, with the phrase Contre le racisme et les violences policières written above in black, white and red. | [529] [530] [531] [532] |
Plaque | City | State | Removal announced | Removed | Means of removal | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
University of Alabama Confederate Army plaques | Tuscaloosa | Alabama | June 8 | June 9 | Removed by school | The three plaques near the library commemorate University students who joined the Confederate military and University cadets who helped defend the campus. The University stated that they "will be placed at a more appropriate historical setting". | [533] [534] [535] |
Historic sign saying Bowling Green was the Confederate capital of Kentucky | Bowling Green | Kentucky | Not announced | About August 25 | Removed by Western Kentucky University administration | [162] | |
Plaque and stone that honored Stephen Douglas | Chicago | Illinois | Announced June 7 | Removed by owner, University of Chicago | [536] | ||
John H. Winder plaque | Salisbury | Maryland | June 12 | June 12 | Removed by Wicomico County | The plaque was located next to the Wicomico County Courthouse. It was personally removed by Wicomico County officials. | [537] |
Words engraved at the base of the Hannah Duston statue | Haverhill | Massachusetts | April 27, 2021 | Removal approved by Haverhill City Council | City Council voted to leave the statue in the park, but to remove the hatchet and words inscribed in the statue’s granite base describing Native Americans as savages. | [538] | |
Woodrow Wilson's desk as Governor (plaque) | Trenton | New Jersey | Announced July 2 | No longer being used by Phil Murphy, Governor of New Jersey | [539] | ||
Maryland State House plaque | Annapolis | Maryland | June 15 | Removal approved by Maryland State House Trust | The plaque was installed during the Civil Rights Movement. It honors Marylanders who fought on both sides of the Civil War; the plaque claims not to "take sides". | [540] | |
Plaques honoring Simon Baruch and Alexander Stephens Plaques honoring Matthew Fontaine Maury and Maupin-Maury House Plaque honoring surgeon John Syng Dorsey Cullen | Richmond | Virginia | July 16 | Committee at Virginia Commonwealth University recommends these changes; approval expected. | Various plaques commemorating members of the Confederacy placed across University | [199] |
Plaque | Location | Removal announced | Removed | Means of removal | Notes | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plaque to Sir Thomas Picton | Haverfordwest | — | Jun 10, 2020 | Removed at the request of the building's owner | Blue plaque at the birthplace of the general and governor of Trinidad. The building's owner had the plaque removed due to fears that it could be targeted by protesters. It was reported that the plaque would be displayed in Haverfordwest Town Museum from 2021. | [541] | |
Plaque to Thomas Phillips | Brecon | — | Before Jun 11, 2020 | Removed by an unknown person | Plaque unveiled at Captain's Walk in 2010; it marked the site of the house of Thomas Phillips (c. 1665–1713), captain of the Hannibal slave ship. Brecon Town Council had already agreed to a review of the plaque, but it was removed by an unknown person before any decision about its fate could be made. | [542] [543] | |
Plaque to Sir Edward Codrington | Brighton | — | Jun 12, 2020 | Removed by the building's managing agent | Blue plaque marking the residence of Sir Edward Codrington at Codrington Mansion, Western Road. | [544] |
The following buildings were destroyed, torn down, or heavily damaged during the George Floyd protests due to their perceived racist heritage:
Building | City | State | Date of incident | Notes | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Market House | Fayetteville | North Carolina | May 30 | The Market House Building, a tourist attraction and museum on the site of a former slave market, was set on fire by demonstrators chanting "Black Lives Matter". The demonstrators used wood pallets to encourage a larger fire. | [545] [546] | |
Memorial to the Women of the Confederacy | Richmond | Virginia | May 31 | The national headquarters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy was set on fire. Windows were broken and fire set to the curtains hanging in the building's main library. Flames covered most of the front of the building; 9 fire trucks responded. Firefighters asked for and received police protection. There was extensive smoke and water damage throughout the building and charring on the building's Georgia marble façade. All the books in the library incurred some damage and library shelving was destroyed. Some Stonewall Jackson memorabilia, including his Confederate flag, were destroyed. | [547] [ non-primary source needed ] [548] [547] [549] | |
Old Market House | Louisville | Georgia | Pending | The structure is a former slave market; it was built in 1795 and is located in the downtown area of Louisville. The Old Market House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as one of the few surviving slave markets in the United States and the sole surviving market in Georgia. In July 2020, a fourteen-person commission was established by the city to determine the structure's future. The commission voted unanimously to remove the building; this decision was re-affirmed by the Louisville City Council on August 11, 2020. The city wishes to move the Old Market House to a museum, although no formal plan has been approved. | [550] |
Monument Avenue is a tree-lined grassy mall dividing the eastbound and westbound traffic in Richmond, Virginia, originally named for its emblematic complex of structures honoring those who fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Between 1900 and 1925, Monument Avenue greatly expanded with architecturally significant houses, churches, and apartment buildings. Four of the bronze statues representing J. E. B. Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis and Matthew Fontaine Maury were removed from their memorial pedestals amidst civil unrest in July 2020. The Robert E. Lee monument was handled differently as it was owned by the Commonwealth, in contrast with the other monuments which were owned by the city. Dedicated in 1890, it was removed on September 8, 2021. All these monuments, including their pedestals, have now been removed completely from the Avenue. The last remaining statue on Monument Avenue is the Arthur Ashe Monument, memorializing the African-American tennis champion, dedicated in 1996.
Christopher Columbus is a bronze statue of Italian explorer and navigator Christopher Columbus. It was installed during 1933 in Chicago's Grant Park, in the U.S. state of Illinois. Created by the Milanese-born sculptor Carlo Brioschi, it was set on an exedra and pedestal designed with the help of architect Clarence H. Johnston. It was removed and put in storage in 2020.
The Albert Pike Memorial is a public artwork in Washington, D.C., erected in 1901, and partially demolished in 2020 by protestors responding to the murder of George Floyd. It honors Albert Pike (1809–1891), a senior officer of the Confederate States Army as well as a poet, lawyer, and influential figure in the Scottish Rite of freemasonry. The memorial—which now only includes the base and Goddess of Masonry sculpture—sits near the corner of 3rd and D Streets NW in the Judiciary Square neighborhood. The memorial's two bronze figures were sculpted by Gaetano Trentanove, the Italian-American sculptor of another Washington, D.C., sculptural landmark, the Daniel Webster Memorial. The dedication ceremony in 1901 was attended by thousands of Masons who marched in a celebratory parade.
The Robert E. Lee Monument was an outdoor bronze equestrian statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee and his horse Traveller located in Charlottesville, Virginia's Market Street Park in the Charlottesville and Albemarle County Courthouse Historic District. The statue was commissioned in 1917 and dedicated in 1924, and in 1997 was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was removed on July 10, 2021, and melted down in 2023.
An outdoor 1992 bronze sculpture of Christopher Columbus by Joe Incrapera was installed in Houston's Bell Park, in the U.S. state of Texas. It was later removed in 2020 after a history of vandalism.
There are more than 160 monuments and memorials to the Confederate States of America and associated figures that have been removed from public spaces in the United States, all but five of which have been since 2015. Some have been removed by state and local governments; others have been torn down by protestors.
The United Confederate Veterans Memorial was a Confederate monument in Seattle's privately owned Lake View Cemetery, in the U.S. state of Washington. The memorial was erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1926. It was constructed of quartz monzonite from Stone Mountain, the Georgia landmark and birthplace of the modern Ku Klux Klan.
Christopher Columbus, or simply Columbus, is a 1955 sculpture by Edoardo Alfieri, originally installed outside Columbus, Ohio's City Hall, in the United States. The statue was unveiled in 1955, celebrating Christopher Columbus's voyages to the New World. It was removed in July 2020, in light of the explorer's abusive relationship with indigenous Americans.
The Monument to Christopher Columbus is a statue by French sculptor Charles Cordier first dedicated in 1877. It was originally located on a major traffic roundabout along Mexico City's Paseo de la Reforma, and was removed on 10 October 2020 in advance of protests.
Richmond, Virginia, experienced a series of protests in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. Richmond was the first city in the Southeastern United States to see rioting following Floyd's murder. Richmond, formerly the capital of the short-lived Confederate States of America, saw much arson and vandalism to monuments connected with that polity, particularly along Monument Avenue.
The statue of the Confederate States of America cavalry general Williams Carter Wickham by Edward Virginius Valentine was installed in Richmond, Virginia's Monroe Park in 1891, near Virginia Commonwealth University's main campus. It was toppled in June 2020 during the George Floyd protests.
The statue of Edward Colston is a bronze statue of Bristol-born merchant and trans-Atlantic slave trader Edward Colston (1636–1721). It was created in 1895 by the Irish sculptor John Cassidy and was formerly situated on a plinth of Portland stone in a public space known as "The Centre" in Bristol, until it was toppled by anti-racism protestors in 2020.
The Norfolk Confederate Monument was a Confederate memorial in front of the Norfolk Southern Museum in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. The monument was removed in June 2020.
A bronze statue of Christopher Columbus was installed on the grounds of the Minnesota State Capitol in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1931. The 10-foot statue was created by Italian American Carlo Brioschi.
A 1959 statue of Christopher Columbus by Alfred Solani was installed on the Columbus State Community College's downtown campus in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The monument is one of three in Columbus commemorating the explorer. The statue was removed June 19, 2020.
A statue of Christopher Columbus was installed in Denver, Colorado, United States. It was the work of Denver-based artist William F. Joseph, dedicated in 1972. Joseph's statue was vandalized and torn down by protestors in June 2020 during the civil unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. A number of monuments and memorials across the United States associated with racial injustice were vandalized, destroyed or removed. The statue is being stored at an undisclosed location.
A statue of Christopher Columbus was installed in Columbia, South Carolina, United States as part of the Columbus Quincentenary. The memorial was removed and placed into storage in June 2020.
The Christopher Columbus Monument was a marble statue of the explorer Christopher Columbus in the Little Italy neighborhood of Downtown Baltimore, Maryland. The monument was brought down by protesters and dumped into the Inner Harbor on July 4, 2020, one of numerous monuments removed during the George Floyd protests. The statue is being reproduced by the Knights of Columbus.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)The 5th District Court of Appeals in Dallas agreed with the city and will allow it to remove the monument 'for archival storage pending resolution of the appeal'.
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