3guysfrombrooklyn.com
STUCK IN STORAGE: Green-Wood Cemetery leaders remain undecided
about the fi nal resting place for a statue of controversial gynecologist
J. Marion Sims, almost a year after they acquired the sculpture from the
city. Associated Press / Bebeto Matthews
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BY COLIN MIXSON
Green-Wood Cemetery leaders
may be backing out of their
promise to consult the community
before installing a statue
of a polarizing doctor in the
burial ground, according to
critics of the sculpture, who
said a graveyard bigwig recently
shot down their request
for a sitdown about the fate of
the monument to gynecologist
J. Marion Sims.
“My impression is that
they’re not interested in community
input for this,” said
Kate Axelrod, the founder of
opposition group Stop Sims
Statue.
Green-Wood honchos last
April pledged to keep locals
informed as they decided on
a fi nal resting place for the
statue, months after some residents
organized in opposition
to cemetery brass’ January offer
to make the burial ground
a new home for the likeness of
the 19th-century doctor.
The monument to Sims —
whom many claim should not
be memorialized because he
performed experiments on
unwilling black female slaves
— previously stood in Central
Park, until city offi cials
booted it following their 2017
review of controversial public
monuments .
But Axelrod said Green-
Wood refused her group’s recent
request to set up a meeting
about the statue’s future,
citing a Jan. 10 e-mail in which
an employee told her group to
sit tight until leaders of the
private graveyard have more
news about their plan to put
the sculpture back on public
display.
“When Green-Wood is
ready for further movement
on the issue, we will reach out
to you, to Community Board
7, and to our elected offi cial
to make plans to meet,” the
e-mail from John Connolly
read.
Another graveyard spokeswoman,
however, assured this
newspaper that locals will be
among the fi rst to receive any
updates about the statue of the
so-called “father of modern
gynecology” — whose physical
remains are among those
of the cemetery’s more than
570,000 permanent residents.
And until a plan is hatched, the
monument will remain locked
away, the spokeswoman said.
“The statue of J. Marion
Sims remains in storage,” said
Colleen Roche. “Green-Wood
continues to research and consider
options for its placement
and is committed to working
closely with the community
and the city.”
Green-Wood’s head previously
promised that if he
placed the Sims statue on the
property, it would be alongside
a plaque explaining the
doctor’s complicated history.
But that reassurance did
little to soothe many critics,
one of whom recently doubled
down on his stance that
no amount of context justifi es
continued display of the monument.
“The man committed violence
against black women for
a living,” Ethan Cohen told
this newspaper on Jan. 10. “He
does not deserve a shred of
commemoration.”
Monumental concern
Locals worry Green-Wood Cemetery may go rogue after
refusing meeting about fate of controversial monument
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