US

Thomas Jefferson statue taken down over former president’s ‘shameful’ slavery links

A statue of US President Thomas Jefferson has been removed from New York City Hall over his links to the slave trade.

The 1833 sculpture has been in the New York City Council chamber for more than a century but has now been taken down following a vote last month.

The New York City Public Design Commission decided to dismantle the 7ft bronze statue, after reassessing the legacy of the founding father, who was also a slaveholder.

A statue of former U.S. President Thomas Jefferson is pictured in the council chambers in City Hall after a vote to have it removed in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., October 19, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
Image:
The statue will be relocated to a museum

Renewed calls to remove the statue came after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis last year.

Jefferson is the third US President and also appears on the two-dollar bill and Mount Rushmore.

He was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, writing “all men are created equal”, but he enslaved more than 600 people and fathered at least six children with Sally Hemings, a woman he enslaved.

“Jefferson embodied some of the most shameful parts of our country’s long and nuanced history,” Adrienne Adams, co-chair of the council’s Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, told the commission last month.

More on New York

“It is time for the city to turn the page and move forward.”

A statue of Thomas Jefferson holding the Declaration of Independence stands in New York's City Hall Council Chamber on Wednesday, October 20, 2021. The 1833 statue of Jefferson will be removed from the council chamber by the end of the year. Some New York City Council members have called for years to remove the statue from the room where they conduct business because Jefferson was a slaveholder. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)
Image:
The sculpture has been removed following a vote last month

His statue, which has featured in New York’s City Hall since 1915, is a replica of a bronze piece by Pierre-Jean David D’Angers, which sits in the US Capitol.

It will now be transported to the New York Historical Society, where it will remain on a long-term loan.

The artwork will be placed in the museum’s lobby gallery for six months before being relocated to the reading room for the duration of the 10-year loan agreement, according to The New York Times.

Similar monuments have become a target of anti-racism protests in recent years, and some other Jefferson statues have already been removed or destroyed, including ones in Oregon and Georgia.

Statues of Civil War Confederate leaders have also been dismantled.