A statue of
Orville L. Hubbard
Orville Liscum Hubbard (April 2, 1903 – December 16, 1982) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Dearborn, Michigan from 1942 to 1978. Hubbard was an effective administrator who served 15 consecutive terms while being national ...
was installed in 1989 in
Dearborn, Michigan
Dearborn is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 109,976. Dearborn is the seventh most-populated city in Michigan and is home to the largest Muslim population in the United States pe ...
, United States. The sculpture was removed in June 2020.
Description and history
A Michigan Historical marker near the statue refers to Hubbard as "an effective administrator" who "made Dearborn known for punctual trash collection", but omits any discussion of his segregationist policies.
Some groups had urged the city to remove the statue. In his book, ''Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong'',
James W. Loewen
James William Loewen (February 6, 1942August 19, 2021) was an American sociologist, historian, and author. He was best known for his 1995 book, '' Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong''.
Early life
Loewen ...
listed the Hubbard statue as one of the Top 20 historical monuments ripe for "toppling", along with the
obelisk celebrating the
White League in
New Orleans and "
The Good Darky
The Good Darky (also called Uncle Jack) is a controversial 1927 American statue of a generic, unnamed, elderly African American man. Originally erected in Natchitoches, Louisiana, it stood there until 1968, but is now in a back lot off a grave ...
" statue at the Rural Life Museum in
Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...
.
The City removed the statue from its longtime location outside City Hall on September 29, 2015, and placed it at the Dearborn Historical Museum.
It was again moved, after complaints it was in too prominent of a location, to the side of the McFadden Ross House, further out of sight. On June 5, 2020, the statue was removed from the outside of the museum and may have been moved to
Union City, Hubbard's hometown.
Dearborn City Council President Susan Dabaja posted on Facebook that the Hubbard family "will place it at his gravesite."
See also
*
List of monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests
References
{{Monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests
2020 disestablishments in Michigan
Buildings and structures in Dearborn, Michigan
Monuments and memorials in Michigan
Monuments and memorials in the United States removed during the George Floyd protests
Outdoor sculptures in Michigan
Sculptures of men in Michigan
Statues in Michigan
Statues removed in 2020