Roger B. Taney Monument (Annapolis)

The Roger B. Taney Monument is a statue of Roger Brooke Taney (1777–1864), who was the fifth Chief Justice of the United States and titular head of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was appointed by President Andrew Jackson (1767-1845, served 1829-1837) and later confirmed by vote of the upper chamber of the Congress of the United States in the U.S. Senate. He served 29 years on the high court / judicial branch of the federal government until the near end of the administration of President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865, served 1861-1865), during the American Civil War (1861-1865).

Taney's memorial statue was installed in Annapolis, Maryland, on the east front / original side of the historic Maryland State House grounds surrounded by State Circle. The sculpture, by the prominent Baltimore and Maryland artist / sculptor William Henry Rinehart (1825-1874), who died only two years after he completed his work of fellow Marylander Taney at the young age of 49 years old. It was unveiled on December 10, 1872, eight years after Chief Justice Taney's death in 1864.[1][2] The sculpture, made of bronze on a granite stone pedestal,[3] was commissioned by the state legislature, the bicameral General Assembly of Maryland.[1]

Removal from State House grounds

In August 2014, The 106th Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates, Michael E. Busch (1947-2019, served 2003-2019), (of Anne Arundel County), a Democrat; and the 62nd Governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan (born 1956, served 2015-2023), (of Prince George's County), a Republican, jointly together in a bipartisan statement, first called for the statue's removal after 142 years, from the State House grounds.[4][5] On August 16, 2017, a majority of the members of the Maryland State House Trust voted to move the statue from the State House grounds to storage.[6][7]

Chief Justice Taney of Frederick County, Maryland (and later occasionally in Baltimore and Washington, D.C.), was the main author of the infamous written Dred Scott decision by the vote of the nine justices then sitting on the U.S. Supreme Court in March 1857, considered to be one of the several lesser causes for contributing to and sparking the American Civil War, four years later in 1861.[8]

The statue was removed on August 18, 2017.[9]

See also

• Roger B. Taney (sculpture), Baltimore

References

1. John Thomas Scharf (2003). History of Western Maryland: Being a History of Frederick, Montgomery, Carroll, Washington, Allegany, and Garrett Counties from the Earliest Period to the Present Day, Including Biographical Sketches of Their Representative Men. Genealogical Publishing Com. pp. 821–. ISBN 978-0-8063-4565-9.
2. "Maryland State Art Collection: Sculpture, Roger Brooke Taney". msa.maryland.gov.
3. Moses Forster Sweetser (1892). King's Handbook of the United States. Moses King Corporation. pp. 331–.
4. Cox, Erin (August 14, 2017). "House Speaker Busch: Time to remove Taney statue from Maryland State House grounds". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2017-08-16.
5. Pamela Wood, Hogan: Taney statue at Maryland State House should be removed, Baltimore Sun (August 14, 2017).
6. Wood, Pamela. "Crew prepares to remove Roger Taney statue from Maryland State House grounds".
7. Amara, Kate (17 August 2017). "Panel votes to remove Taney statue from State House grounds".
8. Kelly, Cindy, Outdoor Sculpture in Baltimore: A Historical Guide to Public Art in the Monumental City, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2011 pp. 65-66
9. "Taney statue moved from Maryland state house grounds overnight". The Washington Post.

38.98631°N 76.50085°W / 38.98631; -76.50085