''Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider'' is a toppled

bronze sculpture Bronze is the most popular metal for Casting (metalworking), cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as w ...

, not currently restored, by American artist

Alexander Phimister Proctor Alexander Phimister Proctor (September 27, 1860 – September 5, 1950) was an American sculptor with the contemporary reputation as one of the nation's foremost animaliers. Birth and early years Proctor was born on September 27, 1860 in Bo ...

, formerly located in the

South Park Blocks The South Park Blocks form a city park in downtown Portland, Oregon. ''The Oregonian'' has called it Portland's "extended family room", as Pioneer Courthouse Square is known as Portland's "living room". Twelve blocks in length, it is intersecte ...

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

in the United States. The

equestrian statue An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a d ...

was completed in 1922 and depicts

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

as the leader of the cavalry regiment that fought during the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cloc ...

called the

Rough Riders The Rough Riders was a nickname given to the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish–American War and the only one to see combat. The United States Army was small, understaffed, and di ...

Description

''Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider'' is an

(1860–1950). The

depicts

, former

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

, as the leader of the cavalry regiment called the

, who fought during the

. According to the

Regional Arts & Culture Council The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) is an organization that administers arts grants in Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas Counties that also do advocacy in the Portland metropolitan area in Oregon, United States. It evolved from the city� ...

, which administers the work, "Proctor took great care in accurately depicting Roosevelt as a symbol of American determination, success, and strength and as a bridge back to the Wild West." The statue is located in Portland's

, along Southwest Park Avenue between Southwest Jefferson and Madison Streets. It measures × × and is mounted to a base that measures long × high × wide.

History

The memorial was commissioned after Roosevelt's death. Completed in 1922, the sculpture was cast in Brooklyn, New York, and was shipped by sea via the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...

to avoid cutting the work into pieces. Henry Waldo Coe, a friend and hunting partner of Roosevelt's, donated the statue to the City of Portland. Calvin Coolidge, then

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...

, was present at the statue's dedication. The creation of the statue was documented by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in its 1922 film, The Making of a Bronze Statue. This film was the first time that the entire process of creating a bronze statue by the lost-wax method of casting was photographed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art made this film available on Youtube in January of 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPJZwlnw-rc The statue's condition was deemed "treatment needed" by the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

's "

Save Outdoor Sculpture! Save Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!) was a community-based effort to identify, document, and conserve outdoor sculpture in the United States. The program was initiated in 1989 and ended in 1999. History Save Outdoor Sculpture! was initiated by Herit ...

" program in April 1993. It was toppled by rioters during the Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage in October 2020, along with the nearby statue of Abraham Lincoln, in what Portland police declared a riot. On July 28, 2021, Stan Pulliam, the mayor of

Sandy, Oregon Sandy is a city located in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, settled 1853 and named after the nearby Sandy River. Located in the foothills of the Cascade Mountain Range, the city serves as the western gateway to the Mount Hood Corridor, ...

, proposed to have the Roosevelt statue and two other Portland statues, one of ''

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

'' and one of ''

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

'', reinstalled in

. He said: "When we heard last week that the city of Portland is considering not putting the statues back up we decided we're tired of the embarrassment". A decision on the future of the statues has not been made.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roosevelt, Theodore Rough Rider 1922 establishments in Oregon 1922 sculptures Bronze sculptures in Oregon Roosevelt, Theodore Equestrian statues in Oregon Military monuments and memorials in the United States Monuments and memorials in the United States removed during the George Floyd protests Outdoor sculptures in Portland, Oregon Calvin Coolidge Sculptures of men in Oregon South Park Blocks Statues by Alexander Phimister Proctor in Oregon Statues in Portland, Oregon Statues of Theodore Roosevelt Statues removed in 2020 Vandalized works of art in Oregon

Description

History

See also

References

External links