Photo: EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP / Getty Images
A statue of Caesar Rodney — the Delaware founding father who signed the Declaration of Independence and enslaved more than 200 people — is headed to Washington, D.C., years after Wilmington removed it during the 2020 racial justice protests.
According to The Washington Post, the bronze equestrian statue will be temporarily installed at Freedom Plaza on Pennsylvania Avenue as part of programming tied to the nation’s 250th anniversary. Planning documents filed with the NationalStatue Of Enslaver Removed In 2020 Set To Return In D.C. Display Capital Planning Commission show the National Park Service is seeking approval to place the statue there for up to six months.
The move is already drawing attention because of both the location and the history. Freedom Plaza was renamed in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1988, and the statue itself was taken down by Wilmington in June 2020 as cities across the country reevaluated monuments tied to slavery, white supremacy, and racial violence after the police murder of George Floyd.
Rodney’s defenders have long centered his role in the Revolution, particularly his ride to Philadelphia in July 1776 to cast Delaware’s deciding vote for independence. The Trump administration is using that story as the public rationale for the installation.
In a statement per The WP, an Interior Department spokesperson said the administration wants to “celebrat[e] and acknowledg[e] the full breadth of our nation’s history,” including Rodney’s role in the founding of the country.
But critics point to what that official framing leaves out: Rodney was also a plantation owner and enslaver. The WP reported that the administration’s statement didn't mention his history of enslaving people, and Reuters similarly described him as an enslaver whose statue was removed during the 2020 protests.
The federal paperwork offers more detail about how far the process has moved. National Capital Planning Commission materials state that the statue would be on loan from the State of Delaware, placed on Freedom Plaza for a period “not to exceed 6 months,” and installed as part of events leading into the July 4, 2026, semiquincentennial celebration. A related federal contracting listing also outlines transport and crane work for moving the statue from storage and setting it on a pedestal at the plaza.
The effort didn't come out of nowhere. Delaware state Sen. Eric Buckson, a Republican, has spent years pushing for the statue to return to public view. The WP reported that Buckson contacted the Park Service about the statue roughly a year ago and that conversations later shifted toward displaying it in Washington during the 250th anniversary period.
He told the paper that he ultimately hopes the statue returns to Delaware, where Rodney’s full legacy — including his role as an enslaver — can be discussed more completely.
Wilmington officials, meanwhile, are not committing to bringing the statue back home after its D.C. run. The Post reported that city spokesperson Caroline Klinger said no final decision has been made and that broader conversations are still happening in Delaware about where the statue should eventually go.
The Rodney plan fits into a broader pattern under the Trump administration. The Post noted that officials have also moved to restore or reinstall other controversial monuments, including a statue of Confederate general Albert Pike, while pursuing plans tied to a Christopher Columbus statue and reviewing exhibits and displays that address slavery and race in federal spaces.
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