[Lincolnparkdc] Origins of Lincoln Park Statue

Thu Jun 18 23:06:00 EDT 2020

I disagree that only one part of a community should decide on the fate of a
public monument in its midst, especially one that commemorates a national
event, in a national park. That is not democratic.

David
13th St SE

On Thu, Jun 18, 2020 at 10:51 PM <citymom92 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Having this context is great and important sure. But I’m thinking about
> the African American kid who sees the statue from a distance. They don’t
> see the context and may not walk up to it to read whatever historical
> document someone may have at the ready. I don’t think it shows them an
> uplifting image at all. When we first moved into the block in ‘94 I
> remember feeling uncomfortable myself upon seeing the statue for the first
> time. Then I learned more about it and felt a little better, but still. I
> remember also the speech Mitch Landrieu made when he took down a
> confederate statue in New Orleans. He said he couldn’t bear the thought
> anymore that kids every day had to walk past it and feel that oppression,
> the shame, and the fear. And thatst kind of how I feel now about the
> Lincoln statue. Of course, we know that this statue was intended to have a
> different meaning as it was commissioned by freed slaves. But honestly if
> the black community of DC thinks it should come down then I believe we must
> follow their lead. It’s really for them to decide IMO.
>
> Gina Arlotto
> 100 bl Kentucky
>
> On Jun 18, 2020, at 12:51 PM, jobyl boone <jobyl01 at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> 
> I mentioned Kirk Savage's book, *Standing Soldiers, Kneeling Slaves*, in
> a previous post on this topic and linked to the full text of the chapter,
> "Freedom's Memorial," which deals specifically with the Lincoln Park statue
> group. I link it again here:
>
> https://books.google.com/books?id=E9bDt6n9DW4C&pg=PA89&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false
>
> Jobyl
> 14th St, SE
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2020 21:21:08 -0500
> From: Hannah Bergman <hannah.haley at gmail.com>
> To: lincolnparkdc at lincolnparkdc.info
> Subject: Re: [Lincolnparkdc] Origins of Lincoln Park Statue
>
> When I talked to her today about it, she said she is supportive of the
> statue as is. She believed that there was a debate at the time on the
> design and that there had been a consensus, and that the statue should be
> viewed as part of a larger body of work.
>
> Her own graduate research focused on the differences between statues in the
> Caribbean which feature slaves breaking free and asserting themselves as
> opposed to those in the US which she described as being in the loyal mammy
> vein. She pointed to this story
>
> https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/05/the-mammy-washington-almost-had/276431/
> as an example of a successful push back against a statue.
>
> Hannah
>
> On Wed, Jun 17, 2020 at 7:26 PM Diana Quinn <dqquinn at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I'd be interested to know what she thinks about the Lincoln Park
> statue....
> > On Wed, Jun 17, 2020 at 8:23 PM Hannah Bergman <hannah.haley at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Hi,
> >>
> >> One of my coworkers (I work at the National Archives) did her graduate
> >> work in history on statutes and racial iconography. She recommended this
> >> book, for a scholarly discussion of the issue.
> >>
> >> Standing Soldiers, Kneeling Slaves: Race, War, and Monument in
> >> Nineteenth-Century America,
> >>
> >>
> https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07CSFQTMS/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=&sr=
> >>
> >> I believe there is significantly more to the discussion and meaning of
> >> the statue then just taking the images at face value.
> >>
> >>
> >> Hannah
> >>
> >> On Tue, Jun 16, 2020 at 4:51 PM padma cariappa <padmacariappa at gmail.com
> >
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Thank you for this interesting and enlightening background, Sandra.
> >>> I do hope its history and origins are given some thought by those who
> >>> may have designs on the statue.
> >>> Best regards, Padma
> >>>
> >>> On Jun 16, 2020, at 5:43 PM, Sandra Moscoso-Mills <
> >>> smoscosomills at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> More (short) reading! Passing this background along from our friends at
> >>> NPS.
> >>> ----------
> >>>
> >>> Sources are the original speech delivered by Frederick Douglass at the
> >>> dedication of the statue at Library of Congress, Program at the
> dedication
> >>> at Library of Congress, and the book "The story of Archer Alexander"
> from
> >>> 1886.
> >>>
> >>> Of note:  Frederick Douglass was the keynote speaker when the statue
> was
> >>> dedicated in 1876 and he saw it a symbol of freedom - although he did
> both
> >>> praise and criticize the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln at the
> dedication.
> >>>
> >>> Key points:
> >>>
> >>>    1. It is an anti-slavery statue.  It was officially titled
> >>>    "Freedom's Memorial"
> >>>    2. Anti-slavery allegories on the statue show a former whipping post
> >>>    (with scourge marks showing the violence of slavery) - whipping
> post has
> >>>    ivy growing up it to show that slavery is a thing of the past in
> the US.
> >>>    The formerly enslaved person has broken shackles on his wrists to
> show that
> >>>    he freed himself - a tribute to the African American Union soldiers
> who
> >>>    fought for freedom during the  Civil War, or as quoted in the book:
> "The
> >>>    Story of Archer Alexander" (1885) "whose hand has grasped the chain
> as if
> >>>    in the act of breaking it, indicating the historical fact that
> slaves took
> >>>    active part in their own deliverance."
> >>>    3. Funding for the statue ($17,000) was raised entirely by African
> >>>    Americans - note there were those in the US government (notably
> President
> >>>    Andrew Johnson) who tried to prevent the erection of the statue
> because
> >>>    they were pro-Southern.
> >>>    4. The African American in the statue is based on a real person,
> >>>    Archer Alexander - who had been enslaved but freed during the Civil
> War.
> >>>    5. The kneeling of the enslaved person:  Two interpretations here:
> >>>    One is he is rising from the condition of slavery. The 1886 book
> "The Story
> >>>    of Archer Alexander" states that he is receiving a benediction from
> >>>    Lincoln.
> >>>    6. In addition to Douglass, US Representative, John Mercer Langston,
> >>>    first African American US Representative from Virginia, gave a short
> >>>    address at the dedication of the statue.
> >>>    7. The statue was the historical epicenter for DC Emancipation Day
> >>>    ceremonies during much of the 19th century.
> >>>    8. The Mary McLeod Bethune statue was erected to compliment the
> >>>    Freedom's Memorial - the plaza between them is known as "Centennial
> Plaza"
> >>>    to represent the 100 years between the Emancipation Proclamation
> (1863) and
> >>>    the original intended date of the Bethune statue (1963) (note:
> active Civil
> >>>    Rights issues in the 1960s delayed the erection of the Bethune
> statue until
> >>>    1974). When erected, the "Lincoln" statue was turned to face Mrs.
> Bethune.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> What Frederick Douglass said (conclusion of his speech dedicating the
> >>> statue) (Speech and program are at the library of Congress)
> >>> <
> https://www.loc.gov/resource/lcrbmrp.t0c12/?sp=1&r=0.116,0.157,0.741,0.903,0
> >
> >>>
> >>> ". . . In doing honor to our friend and liberator, we have been doing
> >>> the highest honors to ourselves and those who come after us; we have
> been
> >>> fastening to ourselves to a name and fame imperishable and immortal; we
> >>> have also been defending ourselves from a blighting scandal. When now
> it
> >>> shall be said that the colored man is soulless, that he has no
> appreciation
> >>> of benefits and benefactors when the foul reproach of ingratitutde is
> >>> hurled at us, and it is attempted to scourge us beyond the range of
> human
> >>> brotherhood, we may calmly point to the monument we have this day
> erected
> >>> to the memory of Abraham Lincoln."
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> ------------------------------
> >>> *From:* lincolnparkdc <lincolnparkdc-bounces at lincolnparkdc.info> on
> >>> behalf of Nicholas Alberti <alberti6a04 at yahoo.com>
> >>> *Sent:* Tuesday, June 16, 2020 5:12 PM
> >>> *To:* lincolnparkdc at lincolnparkdc.info <
> lincolnparkdc at lincolnparkdc.info
> >>> *Subject:* [Lincolnparkdc] Origins of Lincoln Park Statue
> >>>
> >>> I suggest the neighbors read the link below that describes the origin
> of
> >>> the Lincoln statue in the park.
> >>> Emancipation Memorial (Freedman's Memorial)
> >>> <
> https://washington.org/find-dc-listings/emancipation-memorial-freedmans-memorial
> >
> >>>
> >>> Nick Alberti
>
>
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