A statue of Egerton Ryerson by

Hamilton MacCarthy Hamilton Thomas Carlton Plantagenet MacCarthy (28 July 1846 – 24 October 1939) was one of the earliest masters of monumental bronze sculpture in Canada. He is known for his historical sculptures, in particular his Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mon ...

was installed on the grounds of Ryerson University in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, now known as

Toronto Metropolitan University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, although it also operates facilities elsewhere in Toro ...

, until 2021.

History

The novelist

Graeme Gibson Thomas Graeme Cameron Gibson (9 August 1934 – 18 September 2019) was a Canadian novelist.flag of the United States around the statue in a 1970 protest against the sale of

Ryerson Press Ryerson Press was a Canadian book publishing company, active from 1919 to 1970.Janet B. Friskney"The Birth of The Ryerson Press Imprint" Historical Perspectives on Canadian Publishing. First established by the Methodist Book Room, a division of t ...

to the American publishers

McGraw Hill Education McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes referen ...

for $2 million (). Gibson led protesters in a rendition of " I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy" after climbing down from the statue. The statue attracted significant criticism in the 2010s due to Ryerson's role in the creation of the

Canadian Indian residential school system In Canada, the Indian residential school system was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous peoples. The network was funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs and administered by Christian churches. The school s ...

. In 2018, a plaque was officially installed on the statue that contextualizes and acknowledged Ryerson's involvement in the history of the Canadian Indian residential school system. The plaque contains the following text: Beneath this text are the following two quotations: In July 2020, three people were arrested for splattering pink paint on the statue – in addition to two others of

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...

and

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

at the Ontario Legislature – as part of a demand to tear down the monuments. Black Lives Matter Toronto claimed responsibility for the actions stating that "The action comes after the City of Toronto and the Province of Ontario have failed to take action against police violence against Black people." Three people were each charged with three counts of mischief under $5,000 and conspiracy to commit a summary offence; the charges were dropped the following year. On June 1, 2021, following the discovery of 215 unmarked graves at the

Kamloops Indian Residential School The Kamloops Indian Residential School was part of the Canadian Indian residential school system. Located in Kamloops, British Columbia, it was once the largest residential school in Canada, with its enrolment peaking at 500 in the 1950s. The sc ...

, the statue was vandalized again, this time with red paint. On June 6, the statue was toppled, decapitated and thrown into

Toronto Harbour Toronto Harbour or Toronto Bay is a bay on the north shore of Lake Ontario, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a natural harbour, protected from Lake Ontario waves by the Toronto Islands. Today, the harbour is used primarily for recreational b ...

; what was then Ryerson University stated that the statue will not be restored or replaced. The head of the statue was subsequently placed on a

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

at the Six Nations of the Grand River near

Caledonia, Ontario Caledonia is a community located on the Grand River in Haldimand County, Ontario, Canada. It had a population of 9,674 as of the 2016 Canadian Census. Caledonia is within Ward 3 of Haldimand County. The Councillor elected for Ward 3 is Dan Law ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryerson, Egerton, statue of 1890 establishments in Ontario 1890 sculptures 2021 disestablishments in Ontario Destroyed sculptures Monuments and memorials in Toronto Outdoor sculptures in Canada Toronto Metropolitan University Sculptures of men in Canada Statues in Canada Statues removed in 2021 Vandalized works of art in Canada

History

See also

References

External links