Emancipation Group

Boston’s replica was installed in 1879. It was a donation to the City from Moses Kimball, a politician and founder of the Boston Museum. Ball’s statue depicts a mostly undressed Black man with broken shackles, rising from his knees beside a suited, standing Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln holds the Emancipation Proclamation in his right hand.

Symbols of enslavement are on display, including a whipping post and chains. The kneeling figure is based on a photograph of Archer Alexander. The formerly enslaved man helped the Union Army before seeking freedom for himself and his family. While he was recaptured several times under the Fugitive Slave Act, Alexander managed to escape and evade his abductors until the passage of the 13th Amendment.

The City of Boston and the Boston Art Commission recognize the significant cultural influence of public art. Boston’s art collection needs to accurately and responsibly reflect the:

• City’s residents
• values of its communities, and
• history of the City and its people.

On June 30, 2020, after five hours of verbal testimony and discussion, the Boston Art Commission voted unanimously to document and remove "Emancipation Group". The City began a process to relocate it to a new location where it could be better explained. The decision acknowledged the statue’s role in perpetuating harmful prejudices and obscuring the role of Black Americans in shaping the nation’s freedoms. As Frederick Douglass noted in his 1876 letter criticizing the statue, the figure of Alexander, “though rising is still on his knees and nude.” The statue was removed on December 29, 2020, and will be held in storage as we seek a new location.