White House Installs Replica Columbus Statue

A replica statue of Christopher Columbus was installed on the grounds of the White House on Sunday, marking the Trump administration's effort to honor the explorer amid ongoing debates over his historical legacy. The 13-foot sculpture, constructed using fragments recovered from the original that was toppled in Baltimore in 2020, now stands on the north side of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, adjacent to the West Wing and visible from Pennsylvania Avenue.

The statue incorporates shards of marble retrieved from Baltimore's Inner Harbor, where protesters had thrown the original after pulling it down with ropes on July 4, 2020. That incident occurred during nationwide demonstrations following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. The original monument, dedicated in 1984 in Baltimore's Little Italy neighborhood, had been a gift from Italian American Organizations United of Maryland. It was unveiled by President Ronald Reagan and then-Mayor William Donald Schaefer, standing about 13 feet tall on a base depicting Columbus's ships, the Niña, Pinta, and Santa María.

Sculptors Will Hemsley and his father, Tilghman Hemsley, led the reconstruction effort....