Peter Segall | Juneau Empire                                A statue of William Henry Seward, former U.S. senator and governor of New York, vice president and secretary of state, who negotiated the purchase of the Alaska territory from the Russian Empire in 1867 stands on Tuesday, June 16, 2020. A petition has been circulating online calling for the statue’s removal, citing the legacy of U.S. imperialism.

Peter Segall | Juneau Empire A statue of William Henry Seward, former U.S. senator and governor of New York, vice president and secretary of state, who negotiated the purchase of the Alaska territory from the Russian Empire in 1867 stands on Tuesday, June 16, 2020. A petition has been circulating online calling for the statue’s removal, citing the legacy of U.S. imperialism.

Polarizing Petition: Hundreds call for statue’s removal

Some say Seward belongs in a museum, not across from the Capitol

A petition has been filed calling for the removal of the statue of William H. Seward from Dimond Courthouse Plaza across from the Alaska State Capitol.

In the wake of the death George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis police custody after an officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck, statues of historical figures have been torn down, vandalized or peaceably removed as protesters call for a re-examination of those figures’ legacies and reconsideration of what kind of people are memorialized in the public square.

[Seward Statue fully funded, days away from installation]

Last week Juneau resident Jennifer LaRoe started a Change.org petition to remove the statue of Seward, the Secretary of State who organized the purchase of the Alaska Territory, from a plaza downtown.

The statue is owned by the State of Alaska, which also owns Dimond Courthouse Plaza where the statue is located, according to City and Borough of Juneau data, so the state would be responsible for the statue’s removal. The petition was officially addressed to Juneau’s Sen. Jesse Kiehl and Rep. Sara Hannan, both Democrats, whose districts cover downtown Juneau where the statue is located.

Kiehl on Friday declined to comment until he was more familiar with the petition. Hannan was outside of cellphone coverage, according to her staff.

As of Friday afternoon, more than 1,300 people had signed the petition. However, being an online petition, signers do not have to be Alaska residents.

In an interview Thursday, LaRoe said the protests around Floyd’s death and the current re-examination of historical figures made now the perfect time to discuss what Seward represents to Alaska.

“This is the right time to discuss and look at what our society views as OK and help people understand other perspectives,” LaRoe said.

The man vs. the symbol

The issue is not with Seward himself, LaRoe said.

She acknowledged Seward’s role as an abolitionist in the Lincoln administration and aid to Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. However, she does take issue with what the statue of Seward represents.

“My issue isn’t really with Seward the person, I don’t think that relates to the issue here,” LaRoe said, noting the statue showed Seward holding the 1867 Treaty of Cession which authorized the sale of Alaska from the Russian Empire.

“Depicting the purchase of Alaska, which represents the disenfranchisement of indigenous peoples,” isn’t something that should be memorialized in a statue across from the Alaska State Capitol, she said.

“(Alaska Natives) didn’t’ sell their land to the U.S., and that wrong has never been corrected,” LaRoe said.

LaRoe said she questioned why the statue was even erected in the first place as it reflected not only the disenfranchisement of Alaska Natives but was yet another symbol of white, patriarchal authority.

“I don’t know much of (Seward’s) character and am not concerned,” she said. “It’s more about in this current day and age, putting up a statue of something that is harmful to the first people of Alaska.”

LaRoe said she’d like to see the statue removed and replaced with someone who doesn’t offend certain segments of the population, and suggested Alaska civil rights icon Elizabeth Peratrovich as an alternative.

In a letter sent to the Empire, Sealaska Heritage Institute President Rosita Worl said removing the statue would be consistent with the long-held views of Southeast Alaska Natives.

“Seward embodied Manifest Destiny,” Worl wrote. “His imperialistic vision was founded on white supremacy. The history endured by Native Americans in the Lower 48 states repeated itself in Alaska with the suppression of Native cultures, languages and spirituality and the expropriation of our land and natural resources.”

Seward was certainly an imperfect figure, said Dave Rubin, the artist who crafted the statue with his sister, Judith, but his legacy in Alaska is important.

Dave Rubin, of Ketchikan, pulls the veil off the bronze statue of William Seward he designed and made with his sister, Judy, during a ceremony in the Dimond Courthouse Plaza on Monday, July 3, 2017. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire file)

Dave Rubin, of Ketchikan, pulls the veil off the bronze statue of William Seward he designed and made with his sister, Judy, during a ceremony in the Dimond Courthouse Plaza on Monday, July 3, 2017. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire file)

“I encourage the discussion,” Rubin said of removing the statue. “I’m an artist, that’s my art. I’m very proud of it. It is a complicated legacy. Seward was the man who put the Emancipation Proclamation into legislation, his home was the last stop on the Underground Railroad.”

[Preserving a scar: Seward statue debate exposes differing views on history]

When the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1864, Seward was Lincoln’s Secretary of State and contributed language to early drafts of the document, according to the Library of Congress. Documents from the William Henry Seward Papers at the University of Rochester Library show Seward sold a plot of land to Harriet Tubman, founder of the Underground Railroad.

“I really think the discussion should come down to human behavior. There’s no race on this planet that escapes the blame for behaving that way,” Rubin said, referring to past atrocities in human history.

He said he doesn’t want to see the statue destroyed, but he hoped it would be preserved in some way even if it were moved from its current location.

“Not only because of their historical value but also because it’s a work of art. I know it symbolizes something, tearing it down is a symbolic act as well,” he said.

Tony Tengs is a Juneau resident who’s apprehensive about seeing the statue removed.

He, like Rubin, admits that Seward was an imperfect person, but Tengs doesn’t want to see Seward compared to Confederate generals who fought for slavery.

“The statue installation has education value, it speaks to all Alaska Native tribes affected by Seward,” Tengs said. “In the Black Lives Matter collective history, he would probably be honored for his work with Harriet Tubman.”

Tengs said he identified with Seward because they both have scars on their bodies, and appreciated that aspect was incorporated into the statue.

[Seward statue takes place in front of Capitol]

“I know that many people have been scarred under the U.S. occupation of this land. Maybe there can be further commentaries surrounding this,” Tengs said, suggesting additions to the plaza highlighting other narratives.

Tengs said he understood the complexities of Seward’s legacy, but didn’t want to see his legacy passed over in a rush to action.

“I know it’s very fashionable, it happens to be the closest statue of a white man in this BLM rage,” Tengs said.

He supports Black Lives Matter, he said, but was concerned when he saw Facebook posts concerning the statue linking to videos showing how to tear them down.

Both Tengs and Rubin said they would not oppose having the statue moved to a museum, and option which LaRoe tentatively relatively endorsed.

The past and the future

Objections to the statue were raised even during the planning phases.

In April 2017, a few months before the statue was unveiled, a shame totem was erected in the village of Saxman, a recreation of a pole from the 1880’s ridiculing Seward for failing to repay gifts, according to an article in the Alaska Historical Society.

The statue was installed in 2017 after three years of fund-raising by a local planning committee to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Treaty of Cession. The statue cost roughly $250,000 most of which came from grants and donations, the Empire reported at the time.

The largest donation, $28,000, came from the Alaska Historical Commission, which is part of the Department of Natural Resources. The City and Borough of Juneau donated $25,000 from its Parks and Recreation Department budget, the Empire reported.

Under previous ownership the Juneau Empire supported the statue and is listed as one of its major sponsors. The Empire was owned by Morris Communications at the time and published an editorial in support of its installation and context for Seward’s complicated legacy.

Josh O’Connor, president of Sound Publishing, which currently owns the Empire, declined to comment citing a lack of background information.

Worl said she expressed her concerns to the state in 2016 “to no avail,” and suggested that if the state were to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Treaty of Cession, it should also adopt the Canadian model for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

“For myself, I am reminded on a near-daily basis of Seward’s history and the symbols he represents with the naming of Seward Street running in front of the Walter Soboleff Building,” Worl wrote. “Can we not hold up our heroes and name our streets after the likes of Walter Soboleff? Can we not join in with the rest of the country to engage in respectful dialog to address the past wounds with which we still live?”

• Contact reporter Peter Segall at psegall@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @SegallJnoEmpire.

A statue of William Henry Seward, former U.S. senator and governor of New York, vice president and secretary of state, who negotiated the purchase of the Alaska territory from the Russian Empire in 1867 stands on Tuesday, June 16, 2020. A petition has been circulating online calling for the statue’s removal, citing the legacy of U.S. imperialism.

A statue of William Henry Seward, former U.S. senator and governor of New York, vice president and secretary of state, who negotiated the purchase of the Alaska territory from the Russian Empire in 1867 stands on Tuesday, June 16, 2020. A petition has been circulating online calling for the statue’s removal, citing the legacy of U.S. imperialism.

More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast for the week of March 25

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

The aging Tustumena ferry, long designated for replacement, arrives in Homer after spending the day in Seldovia in this 2010 photo. (Homer News file photo)
Feds OK most of state’s revised transportation plan, but ferry and other projects again rejected

Governor’s use of ferry revenue instead of state funds to match federal grants a sticking point.

The Shopper’s Lot is among two of downtown Juneau’s three per-hour parking lots where the cash payments boxes are missing due to vandalism this winter. But as of Wednesday people can use the free ParkSmarter app to make payments by phone. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Pay-by-phone parking for downtown Juneau debuts with few reported complaints

App for hourly lots part of series of technology upgrades coming to city’s parking facilities.

A towering Lutz spruce, center, in the Chugach National Forest is about to be hoisted by a crane Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015, for transport to the West Lawn of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to be the 2015 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service)
Tongass National Forest selected to provide 2024 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree

Eight to 10 candidate trees will be evaluated, with winner taking “whistlestop tour” to D.C.

Annauk Olin, holding her daugher Tulġuna T’aas Olin, and Rochelle Adams pose on March 20, 2024, after giving a presentation on language at the Alaska Just Transition Summit in Juneau. The two, who work together at the Alaska Public Interest Research Group’s Language Access program, hope to compile an Indigenous environmental glossary. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Project seeks to gather Alaska environmental knowledge embedded in Indigenous languages

In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska, the word… Continue reading

The room where the House Community and Regional Affairs Committee holds its meeting sits empty on Tuesday. A presentation about an increase in the number of inmate deaths in state custody was abruptly canceled here. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
Republican lawmakers shut down legislative hearing about deaths in Alaska prisons

Former commissioner: “All this will do, is it will continue to inflame passions of advocacy groups.”

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Monday, March 25, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Employees at the Kensington Mine removing tailings from Johnson Creek on Feb. 17 following a Jan. 31 spill of about 105,000 gallons of slurry from the mine, although a report by the mine’s owners states about half slurry reached the creek 430 meters away. (Photo from report by Coeur Alaska)
Emergency fisheries assessments sought after 105,000-gallon tailings spill at Kensington Mine

Company says Jan. 31 spill poses no risk to Berners Bay habitat, but NOAA seeks federal evaluation.

Dozens of people throw colors in the air and at each other during a Holi festival gathering Monday night outside Spice Juneau Indian Cuisine. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Holi festival in Juneau revives colorful childhood memories for some, creates them for others

Dozens toss caution and colored cornstarch to the wind in traditional Hindu celebration of spring

Most Read