Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025

Statue of US president removed from New York museum

Statue of US president removed from New York museum

A bronze Theodore Roosevelt monument has been hauled away from its longtime perch outside the American Museum of Natural History

Theodore Roosevelt, once revered enough to be chosen as one of four US presidents immortalized on Mount Rushmore, is now deemed too offensive for his statue to remain outside a museum that his father co-founded in New York City.

A bronze statue of Roosevelt on horseback, flanked by a Native American and an African man, was removed with a crane and hauled away on Wednesday night. The monument had stood prominently outside Manhattan’s American Museum of Natural History for more than 80 years, but it’s now being moved to the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota.


The museum had long been proud of its association with the Roosevelt family. In fact, Theodore Roosevelt Sr. was one of the four philanthropists who co-founded the institution in 1869. His son, who went on to become America’s 26th president, was born in Manhattan and served as New York’s governor at the dawn of the 20th century.

Affectionately known as “Teddy” or “TR,” Theodore Roosevelt Jr. became president at the age of 42, the youngest ever. He championed populist policies, such as breaking up the trusts that then had a stranglehold on the US economy. Before politics, he became a war hero by leading his “Rough Riders” against the Spanish army in Cuba. He won the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize for brokering the end of the Russo-Japanese War.

Roosevelt was also known as a great conservationist, having established five national parks, and the New York statue was meant to celebrate his legacy as a devoted naturalist. However, during the Black Lives Matter protests that swept the nation in 2020, criticism of the monument escalated. Demonstrators complained that the statue glorified colonialism and promoted a “racial hierarchy.”

New York’s Public Design Commission voted last June to remove the statue, and the museum covered it with an orange tarp last month. The removal work and restoration of the monument site will reportedly cost about $2 million.

Roosevelt is just the latest historical figure to be canceled. A statue of former president Thomas Jefferson was removed from New York City Hall, where it had stood for 187 years, last November. Jefferson, who was the main author of the Declaration of Independence – and whose face was sculpted on Mount Rushmore next to Roosevelt’s – owned slaves.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×