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Wow. The Teddy Roosevelt statue outside the main entrance to the American Museum of Natural History is coming down—at the AMNH's request. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/arts/design/roosevelt-statue-to-be-removed-from-museum-of-natural-history.html?smid=tw-share
The Museum of Natural History has been wrestling with what to do about the Roosevelt statue for a while, and mounted a special exhibit on the criticism of it a couple of years ago. https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/addressing-the-theodore-roosevelt-statue
You're gonna hear people wringing their hands saying that the AMNH cancelled Teddy Roosevelt, but if it were just a statue of him, it'd likely be staying up. (It's not just a statue of him.)
The Roosevelt statue is by far the most important piece of NYC public art to be removed in the current wave of reconsideration, and I expect its removal is going to get a LOT of attention from the chattering classes.
But if you're ambivalent or confused as to why the statue is coming down, I'd encourage you to (1) look closely at the photo above, and (2) read the AMNH's discussion of the controversy. https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/addressing-the-theodore-roosevelt-statue
(Also, TR's name, likeness, and words are all over the AMNH, and there's no indication that any of that is changing anytime soon—in fact, they're apparently going to name yet another hall after him.)
