Theodore Roosevelt Statue Is Removed From New York’s Natural History Museum

By: Lilly Babin

The statue of Theodore Roosevelt was removed this week from outside of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

Overnight Wednesday, January 19, 2022, the bronze statue of Theodore Roosevelt riding his horse as both an African and Native American man flank him was taken down from the steps of the American Museum of Natural History. This landmark has produced hard conversations and strong debates concerning whether it should stay standing or not. The landmark is a symbol that represents racial hierarchy as well as colonialism.

The Natural History Museum website mentioned the removal stating, “the statue was meant to celebrate Theodore Roosevelt… as a devoted naturalist and author of works on natural history”. The museum went on to say that the statue had a presence in which “the public have long found disturbing”.

The statue was commissioned in 1925 by Roosevelt’s father- one of the museum’s founders. The landmark had been up and standing on the outside steps since 1940. With the blessing of Roosevelt’s namesake descendant and permission from New York City, the museum had announced in June of 2020 that the statue would be removed.

When conversation of Roosevelt’s statue removal had been decided during the summer of 2020, former President Donald Trump adjured authorities to not go through with the removal and tweeted that the decision was “ridiculous”.

Former New York mayor Bill de Blasio also spoke on the removal at the time. He agreed with the majority that it was time for the statue to depart from the New York City steps as it “explicitly depicts Black and Indigenous people as subjugated and racially inferior.”

The museum created its own exhibit spotlighting the removal in hopes to answer questions and to address criticism surrounding the statue. The board of trustees agreed that the monument was “problematic in its composition” and agreed to educate the public by gathering representatives from the Indigenous and Black community, as well as historians, scholars, and artists to determine the next steps for the museum’s future.