Early in the morning on April 26, the controversial Stephen Foster statue was removed from its post in Oakland. In October 2017, the Pittsburgh Arts Commission voted to remove the statue, which many Pittsburghers had deemed racist for its minstrel-like depiction of a black man sitting at Foster’s feet. Foster, a native Pittsburgher, is the famous composer of songs like “Oh! Susanna” and “Camptown Races.”
The statue came off of its post fairly easily. A crew of several Department of Public Works employees wrapped thick rope around the statue and it was pulled off the base with a backhoe. The ropes were removed after the statue was loaded onto a flatbed truck; the truck drove slowly away and nothing was damaged.
The 800-pound statue will be housed at a Department of Public Works yard in Highland Park. The Arts Commission is trying to find a permanent home for the statue, but Pittsburgh public art manager Yessica Guerra said the city has yet to find any takers. City officials want the Foster statue to be replaced by a statue of a famous and influential black woman from the Pittsburgh area. Public meetings will be held in the near future to gather input of who should be honored.
Two public meetings remain and will be held at the following dates and locations:
• May 1, 6:30 p.m. at the Sheraden senior center, 720 Sherwood Ave., Sheraden.
• May 3, 6:30 p.m. at the Hill House Association, 1835 Centre Ave., Hill District.
Below is a slideshow of the Stephen Foster statue being removed.
This article appears in Apr 25 – May 1, 2018.
I find it very offensive that a part of history is being removed because he is white, but of course it’s Ok to replace it with a statue of a black women
The idiocy, the gutlessness of city leaders is beyond comprehension, respecting the Stephen Foster statuary, and it’s relocation.
The idiocy, the cowardice of city officials respecting this statue and it’s removal, to where exactly, is beyond comprehension.
Jerry Clark… You have either missed the point or you are being dishonest. It wasn’t removed “because he’s white.” It was removed because the stereotypical “darkie” at Foster’s feet is highly offensive to many people. Calm down, the statue isn’t being destroyed. There are plans to relocate it with better context. There are plenty of other statues of white people all over that area of town. None of any black women though.
This is incredible, so proud of our city. I was always really bothered by the racist caricature included as part of that statue. I’m glad to see that the city officials have the good sense to acknowledge that we aren’t living in the past anymore and that the glorification of racism is on its way out.
If they put up a statue of a black person, white people might complain and have that removed. How come they cannot have just a statue of Stephen Foster by himself?