The American Museum of Natural History in New York quietly began removing its controversial statue of former President Theodore Roosevelt on Tuesday evening, in the latest chapter in a saga that has spanned nearly a year and a half. On Thursday, all that was left was scaffolding and tarpaulins.

“Moving the equestrian statue from the front steps of the American Museum of Natural History began on Tuesday,” a spokesperson for the museum told NPR via email. “The process, conducted with historic preservation specialists and approved by multiple New York City agencies, will include the restoration of the plaza in front of the museum, which will continue through the spring.”

The spokesperson added that this work must be carried out overnight for safety reasons and to minimize disruption to traffic and pedestrians. The statue will be stored in New York and prepared for long-haul shipment, and is expected to be transported to North Dakota in the coming weeks (more details below).

The bronze statue – officially named the “Equestrian Statue of Theodore Roosevelt” – has dominated the entrance to the museum for around 80 years and has become a source of local and national debate in recent years. It depicts the former Governor of New York and 26th US President seated on a horse, flanked by two shirtless, unnamed men. One is Native American and the other is of African descent.

The statue was commissioned in 1925 to stand on the steps of the museum, since Roosevelt’s father was one of its founders and Roosevelt himself was a “devoted naturalist and author of works on natural history” , as the museum’s website explains.

But he adds that the design itself “communicates a racial hierarchy that the Museum and members of the public have long found disturbing.” Roosevelt’s legacy — particularly his views on race and his support for the eugenics movement — has also come under greater scrutiny in recent years.

In 2017, a commission created by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio assessed the statue and several other controversial monuments on city-owned land. Members were split on their recommendations, with half advocating more research, half in favor of moving the statue and several recommending the museum keep the statue in place but add signage with more information and context. The city opted for the third option.

As the museum continued to open an exhibit on the statue’s history and contemporary reactions to it in 2019, the nationwide focus on racial injustice following the killing of George Floyd in May 2020 showed “quite clearly that this approach is not enough”, as the officials said. in June of that year.

The protests have renewed scrutiny of monuments depicting Confederate generals and other symbols of white supremacy across the country, many of which have since been removed.

The museum said in a statement that it had asked the city, which owns the statue, to remove it from its property.

De Blasio was quick to convey the city’s support, telling NPR at the time that it was “the right decision and the right time to remove this problematic statue.” (Notably, then-President Donald Trump publicly disapproved.)

Theodore Roosevelt IV, museum trustee and great-grandson of the former president, also gave his blessing. Noting its long association with the Roosevelt family, the museum said at the time that it would remain the site of the state memorial to the former president and name its Biodiversity Hall after him in honor of his conservation work.

A year later, in June 2021, the New York City Public Design Commission unanimously approved moving the statue, saying it would finalize the details in the coming months. In November, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation announced an agreement with the city for the “long-term loan and review” of the statue for its new Presidential Library, which is slated to open in Medora, ND, in 2026.

“The TR Library Board believes the equestrian statue is problematic in its composition. Further, its current location negates the consent and context of bystanders,” it said in a statement. “The agreement with the city allows the TR Library to move the statue for storage while considering an exhibit that would allow it to serve as an important tool for studying the nation’s past.”

The library said that with the support of members of the Roosevelt family, it will establish an advisory council comprised of historians, scholars, artists, and representatives of Indigenous, tribal, and black communities “to guide the recontextualization of the statue”.

This story originally appeared in the morning edition live blog.

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