Explore the Background of this artwork, Bust of York.
The bust of York was erected on a plinth which formerly held the statue of Harvey W. Scott, which was toppled and damaged on October 20, 2020. The statue's outstretched right arm broke off.That statue was by Gutzon Borglum, a prolific sculptor known for his design and initial sculpting of Mount Rushmore and the monument to the Confederacy at Stone Mountain; Borglum is controversial for his Klan involvement. Scott fought against Native Americans as a volunteer in the Puget Sound War. He was strongly opposed to women's suffrage and public high schools.
Between October 2020, when the statue was toppled, and February 2021, when the bust was secretly erected, there was considerable local discussion of what hero should be honored on Scott's plinth.On October 11, 2020, the Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage, protesters also toppled statues of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, for their perceived hostility towards Native Americans. Earlier in 2020, Portland statues of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were also toppled, because they owned enslaved people.None of these statues will be re-erected. The Regional Arts & Culture Council in 2021 adopted a policy that allows removal of statues whose "subject or impact...is significantly at odds with values of antiracism, equity, inclusion." While no formal decision has been made (as of August 2021), it is presumed that all of these statues would fall in that category.
York Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage Klan Regional Arts & Culture Council Harvey W. Scott Confederacy George Washington plinth Gutzon Borglum women's suffrage Abraham Lincoln Mount Rushmore Thomas Jefferson statue of Harvey W. Scott statue Puget Sound War Stone Mountain bust Theodore Roosevelt