To see a slideshow of LSU’s Rural Life Museum, click here.In 83 years, both whites and blacks have rejected it. It has been protested against, relocated and vandalized. It has also transformed from an artistic pariah into one of the most important relics of Louisiana history.The first statue of a black man in America, known as Uncle Jack, has welcomed visitors to the LSU Rural Life Museum since 1974 and has drawn national attention since it was first erected.The statue was ranked No. 46 in a list of the “100 Most Notorious National Monuments” in the 1999 book “Lies Across America.”Since 1999, the Rural Life Museum has changed the layout of its facilities, making the statue a central exhibit.But the museum plans to move the sculpture 60 feet from its current location within a few months. The move will take Uncle Jack from the center of an inaccessible car path into the main complex of buildings.David Floyd, director of the Rural Life Museum, said moving the controversial statue into the center of the complex will give visitors a chance to reflect on the significance of the statue.”It’s relic, an artifact of our past,” Floyd said. “It’s not something we would create today. It’s not a pretty part of our history, but it’s important to remember — even if it’s just so we don’t repeat it.”Floyd said the statue, which has been widely interpreted over time, fits in with some of the other dark relics around the museum. Shackles and slave quarters might be difficult to contemplate, but ultimately have historical significance, he said.The Association of African American Museums refused to tour the grounds this summer because of the statue. Floyd said the AAAM viewed the elderly black man’s gesture as willing acceptance of the subservient role of blacks in Louisiana history.Niya Blair, coordinator for the African American Cultural Center, said she has not heard any complaints from black leaders on campus and no one has brought it to her attention as an issue of concern.The bronze statue was the vision of Jackson Bryant, a successful cotton planter, oil mill owner and banker in Natchitoches.Bryant commissioned the statue in 1926 to remember the service of the African-Americans to the state’s agriculture and atmosphere.The statue drew criticism from the town’s white population from the day it went up. It was the only statue in town, and it wasn’t of a white man, Floyd said.Natchitoches residents even painted the statue white in protest, he added.The statue was dubbed the “Good Darky Statue” in a spread on Louisiana in the October 1930 issue of National Geographic magazine, It became known as “Uncle Jack” sometime in the 1930s when friends of Jack Bryant teased the patron had commissioned a statue of himself.The statue was demonstrated against again in the 1960s — this time by blacks associated with the Civil Rights Movement.People saw nostalgia for the antebellum South and slavery in Uncle Jack’s demeanor, Floyd said.Saw marks on the statue’s right hand show where protestors tried to cut the sculpture apart.Natchitoches removed the statue in 1969 and returned it to Jo Bryant Ducournau, Jackson Bryant’s daughter. The statue was loaned to the Rural Life Museum in 1972 and donated in 1975. The museum received the statue despite bids from eight other institutions, including the Smithsonian Institute.”She thought it was important to keep it in Louisiana,” Floyd said. “She liked the idea of the museum interpreting rural life in Louisiana.”Floyd said Nachitoches requested to have the statue returned since early 1973. Former Chancellor Sean O’Keefe was the most recent University official to deny the town its request. Floyd said the University has no intention of returning the statue.—-Contact Adam Duvernay at [email protected]
Statue of black man has history of controversy
October 5, 2009