Revolutionary War Hero's Historic Statue REMOVED From Albany's City Hall

Written By BlabberBuzz | Monday, 12 June 2023 09:30 AM
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Revolutionary War Hero's Historic Statue REMOVED From Albany's City Hall

The statue of Revolutionary War hero Gen. Philip Schuyler, which has stood over Albany's city hall for almost a century, was removed on Saturday morning due to Schuyler's ownership of slaves.

The 9-foot-tall statue was lifted from its pedestal and loaded onto a trailer by a moving crew, along with the pedestal and a plaque. The removal reportedly cost the city $40,000 and took about three hours. The statue will be temporarily housed in an undisclosed storage facility until the city council's monuments commission determines a permanent location.

The decision to remove the statue was made in response to the death of George Floyd and the subsequent riots that occurred in U.S. cities. Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan, a Democrat, ordered the statue's removal in June 2020, but the reduction was delayed due to an engineering study that took years. Sheehan stated, "All of that took time, it took longer than I wanted it to."

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Schuyler was one of Albany's most prominent slave owners, and the statue's removal was welcomed by Mary Liz Stewart, the co-founder of the Underground Railroad Education Center, who said, "It was an outgrowth of what was going on in other cities around the country." Dr. Alice Green of the Center for Law and Justice added, "The statue is a continuing reminder that we were enslaved. It's painful to have that reminder every time I go down to city hall or drive past it."

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However, Albany County legislator Jeff Perlee argued that Schuyler was not a perfect historical figure and that owning slaves was an unfortunate reality for many, including President Washington. He stated, "But nobody is calling for Washington Avenue or Washington Park in Albany to be renamed."

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Gen. Philip Schuyler served as a major general of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and was a U.S. Senator representing New York. He was also the father-in-law of Alexander Hamilton. The statue, originally erected in 1925, will be relocated to a new permanent location as determined by the monuments commission.

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