FOLLOWING HOUSE PASSAGE, SCHUMER URGES SENATE TO APPROVE HIS LONG-AWAITED PLAN TO DELIVER STATUE OF ROCHESTER HERO FREDERICK DOUGLASS TO U.S. CAPITOL BUILDING
Schumer Calls on Senate to Take Final Step & Pass Historic Bill That Places D.C.'s Douglass Statue in the Capitol After Five Year Wait
Schumer Seeks to Add to the Mere Three Statues of African Americans - Out of More Than 180 Sculptures of Prominent Americans in the Capitol; Introduced Original Bill to Break Five- Year Legislative Logjam
Schumer: Enough Delays, Senate Must Approve Douglass Statue for Capitol to Recognize this Great American
Following House passage of companion legislation late Tuesday night, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer called on members of the Senate to pass legislation that would allow a statue of American hero and Rochester resident, Frederick Douglass, to reside permanently in the U.S. Capitol. Schumer emphasized that as soon as the Senate approves the legislation, President Obama can sign the bill into law. In June, Schumer introduced a measure that would direct the Joint Committee on the Library to finally accept a statue of abolitionist hero Frederick Douglass for prominent display in the U.S. Capitol Building. Schumer's legislation cuts through bureaucratic red tape that back-benched the statue of Douglass, completed by sculptor Steven Weitzman in 2007, in a D.C. government building blocks away from the Capitol. Two months later on August 2, the House introduced its version of Schumer's legislation. Working closely with the House on this bipartisan effort, Schumer pushed to get the final legislation approved by both houses of Congress and sent to the President before the end of September, when Congress may adjourn.
"The statue of Rochester's American hero, Frederick Douglass, has been back-benched for far too long. After five long years, the time is now for the Senate to step up to the plate and approve this plan to deliver the Frederick Douglass statue to the U.S. Capitol so that President Obama can swiftly sign it into law," said Schumer. "Without Congressional, plans will be stalled to immortalize a Rochester civil rights hero in the building that houses the democracy for which Douglass fought his entire life. I am calling on my colleagues to get this done, so that the statue of one of the greatest heroes in the history of our nation, and a proud resident of Rochester, no longer sits in a D.C. city government building less than a mile from the U.S. Capitol.
"The base of the statue bears an inscription with the words Frederick Douglass famously said in Canandaigua, NY, 155 years ago: 'If there is no struggle, there is no progress.' After a long struggle to get Congress to agree to bring Frederick Douglass into the Capitol, the millions of tourists who come from Rochester and across the country can no longer wait to see this statue in the place where it belongs," Schumer continued.
Schumer's bill highlights that Frederick Douglass was a leading voice for women's rights and the emancipation of slaves in upstate New York and that his message of equality resonated throughout the country. Currently, only three out of more than 180 statues and busts of prominent American figures on display in the Capitol portray African Americans. Schumer's bill pushes Congress to finally take action and accept this statue of Douglass to the Capitol. The statue depicts a standing Douglass on a pedestal engraved with a quote from a speech he delivered in Canandaigua, NY in 1857 that reads: "If there is no struggle, there is no progress."
The legislation that the House of Representatives passed on Monday directs the Joint Committee on the Library to accept Weitzman's statue of Douglass for placement in Emancipation Hall in the U.S. Capitol and details Douglass's accomplishments as a national civil rights leader including his many years in Rochester, NY. Schumer is Chairman of the Joint Committee on the Library, which oversees artwork and statuary in the Capitol. Once Congress passes the legislation and the President signs it, Schumer said he would work to expedite transfer of the statute.
Born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey in Maryland in 1818, Douglass escaped from slavery at age 20 and lived in Massachusetts, Ireland, and Great Britain before he settled for 25 years in Rochester. While in Rochester, Douglass published and edited "The North Star," the most prominent African-American newspaper in the country. This groundbreaking periodical, in addition to his speeches and the acclaim of his bestselling autobiography, "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave," contributed to the adoption of the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments, also known as the Reconstruction Amendments, which marked major victories for civil rights in America between 1865 and 1870.
Schumer also noted in his original bill that Douglass not only delivered eloquent and timely speeches during his 25 years in upstate New York, but he also converted his words into action. Douglass was a leader in the Underground Railroad in Rochester and western New York, important hubs for escaped slaves due to their proximity to Canada. During the Seneca Falls Convention, a historic gathering near Geneva, NY to promote women's rights in 1848, Douglass participated as the only African American and one of only 37 men out of 300 attendees. Douglass's presence at the convention in Seneca Falls displayed his belief that the women's rights movement and that of emancipation went hand-in-hand.
Frederick Douglass lived in Rochester from 1847 until 1872. He purchased his first home in Rochester at 4 Alexander Street near the corner of East Avenue in April of 1848. He once wrote to a friend about Rochester: "I shall always feel more at home there than anywhere else in the country." Douglass returned to D.C. in 1872 after a fire engulfed his Rochester home. He died in Washington, D.C., and was buried at Rochester's Mount Hope Cemetery in 1895.
The two African-Americans currently depicted in the U.S. Capitol include Sojourner Truth in Emancipation Hall and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Rotunda. Congress has also authorized the creation of a statue of African-American civil rights heroine Rosa Parks, and it is expected to be added to the collection in the Capitol later this year.