A statue of a USC founder — whose connection to teams that carried out extralegal lynchings raised questions concerning the statue’s placement — was eliminated final month for routine upkeep, college officers stated.
Decide Robert Widney was considered one of USC’s founders, and since 2014 an 8-foot bronze statue of him had stood outdoors the Widney Alumni Home.
In an Instagram publish, the Every day Trojan reported that Widney’s statue and the plaque have been taken down Nov. 28.
In an emailed assertion, the college stated the statue was eliminated for “upkeep and cleansing” however didn’t reply a query on whether or not it might be returned.
Like many establishments, USC was met with reinvigorated calls to purge its namesake websites tied to racist figures — which included college founders, presidents and athletics coaches — after a police officer murdered George Floyd on digicam in 2020. The fury and protests over the killing strengthened a nationwide motion to take away symbols or names related to racism in public areas and on college campuses. Monuments, statues and buildings have been toppled, dismantled or renamed as organizations, faculties and cities reckoned with their pasts.
In June 2020, after years of calls for for the college to take motion, USC eliminated the Von KleinSmid Middle for Worldwide and Public Affairs, which was named after Rufus B. von KleinSmid, the college’s fifth president.He was additionally a number one determine in California’s eugenics motion.
A bust of Von KleinSmid was additionally faraway from campus after a unanimous vote from the board of trustees’ govt committee.
In 2021, the constructing was renamed in honor of Joseph Drugs Crow, a Native American alumnus who wrote influential works about Indigenous historical past and tradition.
Over the summer time, the college renamed the sphere on the Trojans’ observe stadium in honor of athlete and alumna Allyson Felix, probably the most adorned American observe and area athlete in Olympics historical past. The area had beforehand been named after Dean Cromwell, a former USC observe coach who was criticized for anti-Black views and antisemitic actions.
However the statue of Widney had remained. In response to USC, Widney is without doubt one of the 4 founding fathers of the varsity, and he had outsize affect on its development within the late 1870s.
However Widney was additionally tied to the Dwelling Guard Vigilance Committee within the late 1800s. On the time, vigilante teams in Los Angeles usually focused Native Individuals and other people of coloration, in accordance with a number of historians.
A professor and historian at UC Merced informed The Occasions in 2020 that Robert Widney was “most definitely” supportive of extralegal lynchings. Widney’s statue got here underneath sharper scrutiny after the college stripped Von KleinSmid’s identify from the landmark constructing.
Widney’s brother, Joseph Widney, was USC’s second president. He expressed racist views in his writing, together with that Black and white individuals “can not stay collectively as equals.” Historian Torres-Rouff described the racial beliefs Joseph Widney espoused in his e book as “repugnant,” citing them in a 2018 article asking universities “to confront their previous, not omit it.”
Occasions workers author Tomás Mier contributed to this report.