Bravo! Well said. We DO need another Teddy Roosevelt. How awful that his statue was removed from the Natural History Museum (which his father worked tirelessly to found).
Bravo! Well said. We DO need another Teddy Roosevelt. How awful that his statue was removed from the Natural History Museum (which his father worked tirelessly to found).
Ugh. That makes me squirm. TR was one of my favorite presidents and that statue was lovely. I get the discomfort around it, but I REALLLLLLY just wish that we could have grown up conversations about controversial artworks rather than just tearing them down. ЁЯШС
Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation
Edward F. OтАЩKeefe, Chief Executive Officer
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 19, 2021
Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and Roosevelt Descendants Facilitate Loan of Equestrian
Statue from City of New York
MEDORA, NORTH DAKOTA тАФ The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library (тАЬTR LibraryтАЭ), set to open in
2026, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with the City of New York for the longterm loan and reconsideration of the Equestrian Statue designed by James Earle Fraser, which was
commissioned by the Board of Trustees of the New York State Roosevelt Memorial in 1929 and has
stood on the steps of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City since 1940.
тАЬWe are grateful to the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library for proposing a fitting new home for the
Equestrian Statue,тАЭ said Vicki Been, New York City's Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic
Development. тАЬThis long-term loan would allow an important part of the CityтАЩs art collection to be
appropriately contextualized, and we look forward to continuing to work with the Library on next steps.тАЭ
The board of the TR Library believes the Equestrian Statue is problematic in its composition. Moreover,
its current location denies passersby consent and context. The agreement with the City allows the TR
Library to relocate the statue for storage while considering a display that would enable it to serve as an
important tool to study the nationтАЩs past. With the support of members of the Roosevelt family, the TR
Library will establish an Advisory Council composed of representatives of the Indigenous Tribal and Black
communities, historians, scholars, and artists to guide the recontextualization of the statue.
тАЬMuseums are supposed to do hard things,тАЭ said Edward F. OтАЩKeefe, chief executive officer of Theodore
Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation. тАЬIt is said that тАШthose who do not learn from history are
doomed to repeat it,тАЩ and our job is to forthrightly examine history to understand the present and make
a better future.тАЭ
тАЬThe Equestrian Statue is problematic in its hierarchical depiction of its subjects and should be removed
from New York StateтАЩs official memorial to Theodore Roosevelt," said Theodore Roosevelt V. "Rather
than burying a troubling work of art, we ought to learn from it. It is fitting that the statue is being
relocated to a place where its composition can be recontextualized to facilitate difficult, complex, and
inclusive discussions."
The removal of the statue will be conducted by the American Museum of Natural History in coordination
with the City of New York. The relocation via long-term loan, including any plans to display the
Equestrian Statue, is subject to final approval by the CityтАЩs Public Design Commission.
тАЬThe American Museum of Natural History has a historic and continuing relationship with the Roosevelt
family and is proud to be the site of the New York State memorial to Theodore Roosevelt,тАЭ said Ellen V.
Futter, President of the American Museum of Natural History. тАЬWe anticipate that work to remove the
Equestrian Statue, which will take several months, will begin later this fall. We thank the Roosevelt
family and the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library for their roles in facilitating this important work.тАЭ
###
About the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation
The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation will open a library for the 26th President in
Medora, North Dakota in 2026, the 250th anniversary of the United States. For more information,
Thank you for researching this. At least it hasn't been melted down. "Problematic." Morons are dictating policy. So the statue outside the doors of the American Natural History Museum were forced to gaze upon the statue without their consent. Sheesh. Maybe we can use that same argument to get drug addicted, mentally ill people off the streets and out of our public transportation. After all they are shooting up and defecating in public without the public's consent, arent' they? Some people may well find that offensive
Bravo! Well said. We DO need another Teddy Roosevelt. How awful that his statue was removed from the Natural History Museum (which his father worked tirelessly to found).
Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library may have it.
I don't know what happened to the statue. Last I saw the mob was wanting to melt it down. Ignoramuses.
Ugh. That makes me squirm. TR was one of my favorite presidents and that statue was lovely. I get the discomfort around it, but I REALLLLLLY just wish that we could have grown up conversations about controversial artworks rather than just tearing them down. ЁЯШС
The discomfort is the result of not knowing why a native American is alongside Teddy.
Here is what I could find:
Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation
Edward F. OтАЩKeefe, Chief Executive Officer
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 19, 2021
Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and Roosevelt Descendants Facilitate Loan of Equestrian
Statue from City of New York
MEDORA, NORTH DAKOTA тАФ The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library (тАЬTR LibraryтАЭ), set to open in
2026, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with the City of New York for the longterm loan and reconsideration of the Equestrian Statue designed by James Earle Fraser, which was
commissioned by the Board of Trustees of the New York State Roosevelt Memorial in 1929 and has
stood on the steps of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City since 1940.
тАЬWe are grateful to the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library for proposing a fitting new home for the
Equestrian Statue,тАЭ said Vicki Been, New York City's Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic
Development. тАЬThis long-term loan would allow an important part of the CityтАЩs art collection to be
appropriately contextualized, and we look forward to continuing to work with the Library on next steps.тАЭ
The board of the TR Library believes the Equestrian Statue is problematic in its composition. Moreover,
its current location denies passersby consent and context. The agreement with the City allows the TR
Library to relocate the statue for storage while considering a display that would enable it to serve as an
important tool to study the nationтАЩs past. With the support of members of the Roosevelt family, the TR
Library will establish an Advisory Council composed of representatives of the Indigenous Tribal and Black
communities, historians, scholars, and artists to guide the recontextualization of the statue.
тАЬMuseums are supposed to do hard things,тАЭ said Edward F. OтАЩKeefe, chief executive officer of Theodore
Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation. тАЬIt is said that тАШthose who do not learn from history are
doomed to repeat it,тАЩ and our job is to forthrightly examine history to understand the present and make
a better future.тАЭ
тАЬThe Equestrian Statue is problematic in its hierarchical depiction of its subjects and should be removed
from New York StateтАЩs official memorial to Theodore Roosevelt," said Theodore Roosevelt V. "Rather
than burying a troubling work of art, we ought to learn from it. It is fitting that the statue is being
relocated to a place where its composition can be recontextualized to facilitate difficult, complex, and
inclusive discussions."
The removal of the statue will be conducted by the American Museum of Natural History in coordination
with the City of New York. The relocation via long-term loan, including any plans to display the
Equestrian Statue, is subject to final approval by the CityтАЩs Public Design Commission.
тАЬThe American Museum of Natural History has a historic and continuing relationship with the Roosevelt
family and is proud to be the site of the New York State memorial to Theodore Roosevelt,тАЭ said Ellen V.
Futter, President of the American Museum of Natural History. тАЬWe anticipate that work to remove the
Equestrian Statue, which will take several months, will begin later this fall. We thank the Roosevelt
family and the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library for their roles in facilitating this important work.тАЭ
###
About the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation
The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation will open a library for the 26th President in
Medora, North Dakota in 2026, the 250th anniversary of the United States. For more information,
please visit www.trlibrary.com.
Thank you for researching this. At least it hasn't been melted down. "Problematic." Morons are dictating policy. So the statue outside the doors of the American Natural History Museum were forced to gaze upon the statue without their consent. Sheesh. Maybe we can use that same argument to get drug addicted, mentally ill people off the streets and out of our public transportation. After all they are shooting up and defecating in public without the public's consent, arent' they? Some people may well find that offensive