City removes York statue in Mount Tabor after it was toppled, vandalized overnight - OregonLive

A statue commemorating York, an enslaved Black member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, was toppled overnight at Southeast Portland’s Mt. Tabor Park.

Photos sent to The Oregonian/OregonLive from someone who was walking in the park Wednesday morning show the large bust on the ground, and the face of York smashed into scattered pieces. Its bronze plaque was also taken off the statue and broken.

By late morning, the bust had been removed by Portland Parks & Recreation, and only the statue base remained.

Adena Long, director Portland Parks & Recreation, confirmed that someone damaged the bust overnight and tore it from the pedestal. A maintenance worker found the damage around 7 a.m.

“The York bust appeared in Mt. Tabor Park in February as a happy surprise to Portland Parks & Recreation,” Long said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the numerous racist responses to the memorial of a Black man forced to participate in the Corps of Discovery Expedition have not been a surprise. The latest act of vandalism is incredibly disappointing for me, and I’m sure the majority of Portlanders will miss seeing York at the top of Mt. Tabor. Parks staff will inspect the installment after this latest incident to see if it can be salvaged.”

The statue has been defaced or damaged three times this summer. It’s unclear who is responsible for the most recent damage to the statue.

The bust mysteriously appeared in February on a pedestal where a statue of Harvey Scott, a well-known conservative and longtime editor of The Oregonian who opposed women’s suffrage, stood until being torn down last fall.

The bust was spray-painted in early June with the words, “Love, not Hate.” The purple paint was later removed.

In late June, a photo of the statue showed the plaque marked with a red logo resembling a symbol used by Patriot Front, a white supremacist group. White paint had also been sprayed on the plaque pedestal and over a portion of the statue. The plaque described him as, “The first African American to cross North America and reach the Pacific Coast.”

Portland officials previously said the city arts program was discussing plans to remove the bust, but no timeline for that project had been set. The city’s arts program manager, Jeff Hawthorne, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the bust would likely stay in place for many more months — as long as it’s viable.

Hawthorne said the bust is constructed of wood and liquid urethane, so it may not withstand the elements. Hawthorne said the city has discussed the bust being replaced with a more durable bronze version.

On Wednesday, Hawthorne said the city’s arts program had no new announcements about any project to replace the bust of York.

“We have continued to talk about the future of that artwork and pedestal with the artist who created it, as well as other artists in the community,” Hawthorne said. “The Regional Arts & Culture Council has connected with the (anonymous) artist as they are stewards of the public arts across the city.”

--Savannah Eadens; seadens@oregonian.com; 503-221-6651

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https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2021/07/york-statue-in-mount-tabor-toppled-overnight-in-apparent-vandalism.html

2021-07-28 18:02:21Z
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