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Gen. Schuyler Statue to Go in Storage as Committee Determines Next Location

  • Post Author
    By Henry Wolff
  • Post Date
    Tue Mar 21 2023

A statue of Maj. Gen. Philip Schuyler outside City Hall is set to come down in a matter of weeks, city officials confirmed Friday.

Plans to remove the statue of Schuyler — known as a Revolutionary War hero but also an enslaver of Black people — began in June 2020 in the wake of the death of George Floyd, when Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan ordered the statue be removed by the city Department of General Services “as soon as possible.” {snip}

Renewed plans to remove the statue nearly three years later stem from a report by students with the Young Abolitionist Leadership Institute at the Underground Railroad Museum {snip}

The report, titled, “What To Do with Phil? – A 2022 Report from the Young Abolitionist Leadership Institute,” was created by five Albany High School students who met between October 2021 and June with two adult facilitators. While the report notes Schuyler’s accomplishments as a Revolutionary War general and politician, his legacy is still marked by owning human beings, it says.

“As a man heavily invested in the institution of enslavement YALI teens maintained that he was able to accomplish what he is remembered for because he depended upon those enslaved to him to carry out those tasks that freed him up to focus on other matters,” the report states. {snip}

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