Cornell University, one of the eight Ivy League schools, has removed a statue of President Abraham Lincoln and a plaque with his Gettysburg Address that he delivered amid the Civil War in 1863, one of the most famous speeches in American history.
The symbolic representations of one of the most important events in the history of the United States of America and one of its most prominent presidents got taken down from the Kroch Library at Cornell.
The purging of Lincoln and his most famous speech occurred because somebody complained to the university, according to a report by Fox News citing Randy Wayne, a biology professor at the school.
“Someone complained, and it was gone,” Wayne said regarding the now missing bust of President Abraham Lincoln.
The bust and a bronzed plaque of the Gettysburg Address, the speech that gave a new sense of purpose to the American nation amid the Civil War, had been on display at the library since 2013. Kroch Library contains Cornell University’s rare manuscript collections.
The biology professor recounted how he noticed the Lincoln statue and the plaque accompanying it had disappeared several weeks ago, so he asked librarians what had happened. The only response he received was that they were removed after a complaint, but no details about the nature or specifics of the protest were offered.
The explanation offered by Cornell’s communications team is that the display removed was only a “temporary exhibition” for celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address in 2013.
“Cornell proudly possesses one of five known copies of the Gettysburg Address in Lincoln’s hand. The original is safely sequestered, with a digital facsimile on permanent display. Additionally, five electronic Lincoln exhibitions are available for 24/7 viewing online,” said Rebecca Valli, director of media relations at Cornell University.
However, she didn’t give any explanation whatsoever about the information provided to Wayne by the librarians that the Lincoln display had been “deleted” after somebody complained about having it in the library. The library itself hasn’t responded to a request to comment.
“When I take my students to RMC each semester, I have one of them read the original in Lincoln’s hand. I am in tears each time I hear a student read those words. The Gettysburg Address is an incredible speech,” Wayne stated, adding that at present, nobody seems to have the “full story” about how and why the statue and the plaque have gone missing.
Lincoln is among the leading figures in American history that have been targeted by far-left, “woke” activists, particularly since the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis in 2020.
