{{Short description|Statue in Toronto, Canada}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2026}} {{Infobox artwork | title = Statue of Egerton Ryerson | italic title = no | other_language_1 = | other_title_1 = | other_language_2 = | other_title_2 = | wikidata = | image = Egerton Ryerson - Statue on Ryerson Campus 20051208.JPG | image_upright = | alt = | caption = The statue in 2005 | artist = [[Hamilton MacCarthy]] | year = {{start date|1887}} | completion_date = <!-- For a more specific date (post-1583): {{start date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}} --> | catalogue = | medium = | movement = | subject = [[Egerton Ryerson]] | height_metric = <!-- (i.e. in metric units) --> | width_metric = | length_metric = | diameter_metric = | height_imperial = <!-- (i.e. in imperial units) --> | width_imperial = | length_imperial = | diameter_imperial = | dimensions = | dimensions_ref = | metric_unit = cm <!-- Note: this parameter must either use the value given or not be included --> | imperial_unit = in <!-- Note: this parameter must either use the value given or not be included --> | weight = | designation = | condition = Destroyed in 2021 | museum = | city = [[Toronto]], Canada | coordinates = <!-- Only use for the coordinates (when known) of the artwork itself, i.e. not for the site, building, structure, etc where it is kept, otherwise leave blank (or omit): {{coord|LAT|LON|type:landmark|display=inline,title}} --> | owner = | accession = | preceded_by = <!-- preceding work by the same artist --> | followed_by = <!-- next work by the same artist --> | module = | website = <!-- Official webpage/site only: {{URL|example.com}} --> }} A [[statue]] of [[Egerton Ryerson]] by [[Hamilton MacCarthy]] was installed on the grounds of Ryerson University in [[Toronto]], now known as [[Toronto Metropolitan University]], from 1887 until 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dittwald.com/torontosculpture/image.php?Artist=MacCarthy&Title=Egerton%20Ryerson|title=Egerton Ryerson|website=Toronto Sculpture|access-date=June 14, 2021|archive-date=June 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614200155/https://www.dittwald.com/torontosculpture/image.php?Artist=MacCarthy&Title=Egerton%20Ryerson|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Saba|first=Rosa|date=June 6, 2021|title=Protesters behead toppled statue of Egerton Ryerson following rally honouring residential school victims|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2021/06/06/statue-of-egerton-ryerson-toppled-at-university-after-rally-for-residential-school-victims.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607160119/https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2021/06/06/statue-of-egerton-ryerson-toppled-at-university-after-rally-for-residential-school-victims.html|archive-date=June 7, 2021|access-date=June 8, 2021|website=thestar.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=June 6, 2021|title=Statue of Egerton Ryerson, toppled after Toronto rally, 'will not be restored or replaced'|work=CBC|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/statue-of-egerton-ryerson-brought-down-1.6055676|url-status=live|access-date=2021-06-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607160154/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/statue-of-egerton-ryerson-brought-down-1.6055676|archive-date=June 7, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Warkentin2010">{{cite book|author=John Warkentin|title=Creating Memory: A Guide to Outdoor Public Sculpture in Toronto|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gCUyR1svtb8C|year=2010|publisher=Becker Associates|isbn=978-0-919387-60-7|page=15}}</ref>
==History== [[File:Ryerson statue circa 1890.jpg|thumb|right|The statue in 1890, as photographed by [[Josiah Bruce]]]]
The novelist [[Graeme Gibson]] draped the [[flag of the United States]] around the statue in a 1970 protest against the sale of [[Ryerson Press]] to the American publishers [[McGraw Hill Education]] for $2 million ({{Inflation|US|2000000|1970|r=0|fmt=eq}}).<ref name="McLaren2019">{{cite book|author=Scott McLaren|title=Pulpit, Press, and Politics: Methodists and the Market for Books in Upper Canada|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=99ChDwAAQBAJ|date=15 November 2019|publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]]|isbn=978-1-4426-2663-8|page=195|access-date=7 July 2021|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709201459/https://books.google.com/books?id=99ChDwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> Gibson led protesters in a rendition of "[[The Yankee Doodle Boy|I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy]]" after climbing down from the statue.<ref name="McLaren2019"/>
The statue attracted significant criticism in the 2010s due to Ryerson's role in the creation of the [[Canadian Indian residential school system]]. 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:
{{blockquote| This plaque serves as a reminder of Ryerson University's commitment to moving forward in the spirit of truth and reconciliation. Egerton Ryerson is widely known for his contributions to Ontario's public educational system. As Chief Superintendent of Education, Ryerson's recommendations were instrumental in the design and implementation of the Indian Residential School System. In 2015, the [[Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada]] concluded that the assimilation amounted to cultural genocide.<ref name="TRCExec">{{cite web |title=Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada |url=http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/File/2015/Findings/Exec_Summary_2015_05_31_web_o.pdf |website=National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation |publisher=Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada |access-date=28 June 2016 |date=31 May 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160706170855/http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/File/2015/Findings/Exec_Summary_2015_05_31_web_o.pdf |archive-date=6 July 2016 }}</ref>}}
Beneath this text are the following two quotations:
{{blockquote| "Let us put our minds together to see what kind of lives we can create for our children" – Chief [[Sitting Bull]]
"For the child taken, for the parent left behind" – Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ryerson.ca/news-events/news/2018/07/plaque-unveiling-a-step-towards-truth-and-reconcilliation/|title=Plaque unveiling a step towards truth and reconciliation|last=Sloan|first=Will|date=July 10, 2018|access-date=August 22, 2018|archive-date=August 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180822214412/https://www.ryerson.ca/news-events/news/2018/07/plaque-unveiling-a-step-towards-truth-and-reconcilliation/|url-status=live}}</ref> }}
In July 2020, three people were arrested for splattering pink paint on the statue – in addition to two others of [[John A. Macdonald]] and [[King Edward VII]] at the [[Ontario Legislature]] – as part of a demand to tear down the monuments. [[Black Lives Matter|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;<ref>{{Cite news|last=Draaisma|first=Muriel|date=July 18, 2020|title=Police charge 3 people after Black Lives Matter protesters splatter paint on statues in Toronto|work=CBC news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/statues-defaced-paint-toronto-defund-the-police-1.5654829|access-date=July 21, 2020|archive-date=July 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721102019/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/statues-defaced-paint-toronto-defund-the-police-1.5654829|url-status=live}}</ref> the charges were dropped the following year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2021/06/16/charges-withdrawn-against-three-protesters-in-paint-attacks-on-ryerson-macdonald-statues.html|title=Charges withdrawn against three protesters in paint attacks on Ryerson, Macdonald statues|work=thestar.com|date=June 16, 2021|access-date=July 7, 2021|archive-date=June 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627203639/https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2021/06/16/charges-withdrawn-against-three-protesters-in-paint-attacks-on-ryerson-macdonald-statues.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
On June 1, 2021, following the discovery of 215 soil disturbances at the [[Kamloops Indian Residential School]], the statue was vandalized again, this time with red paint.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Wilson|first=Kerissa|date=2021-06-01|title=Ryerson statue honouring architect of Canada's residential school system vandalized again|url=https://www.cp24.com/news/ryerson-statue-honouring-architect-of-canada-s-residential-school-system-vandalized-again-1.5451392|url-status=live|access-date=2021-06-01|website=CP24|language=en|archive-date=2021-06-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601160604/https://www.cp24.com/news/ryerson-statue-honouring-architect-of-canada-s-residential-school-system-vandalized-again-1.5451392}}</ref> On June 6, the statue was toppled, decapitated and thrown into [[Toronto Harbour]]; what was then Ryerson University stated that the statue will not be restored or replaced.<ref>{{Cite web|title=A message from President Lachemi on the removal of the Egerton Ryerson statue|url=https://www.ryerson.ca/news-events/news/2021/06/a-message-from-president-lachemi-on-the-removal-of-the-egerton-ryerson-statue/|access-date=2021-06-07|website=Ryerson University|language=en|archive-date=2021-06-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607060218/https://www.ryerson.ca/news-events/news/2021/06/a-message-from-president-lachemi-on-the-removal-of-the-egerton-ryerson-statue/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/article/school-task-force-on-egerton-ryerson-legacy-wont-speed-up-report-despite-protests/|title=School task force on Egerton Ryerson legacy won't speed up report despite protests|publisher=ctvnews.ca|date=6 June 2021|access-date=7 July 2021|archive-date=8 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210708074956/https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/school-task-force-on-egerton-ryerson-legacy-won-t-speed-up-report-despite-protests-1.5458620|url-status=live}}</ref> The head of the statue was subsequently placed on a [[Head on a spike|pike]] at the [[Six Nations of the Grand River]] near [[Caledonia, Ontario|Caledonia]], Ontario.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/egerton-ryerson-statue-caledonia-land-back-lane-1.6059513|title=The head of the statue of Egerton Ryerson now on a spike at Land Back Lane in Caledonia, Ont.|publisher=cbc.ca|date=10 June 2021|access-date=7 July 2021|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709180519/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/egerton-ryerson-statue-caledonia-land-back-lane-1.6059513|url-status=live}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Canada|Visual arts}} * [[Canadian Indian residential school gravesites]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== *Booklet Ceremony of Unveiling of the Statue. United Church of Canada Archives. *{{cite news |last=McDonald |first= Lynn |title=The historical record vindicates Egerton Ryerson |work=National Post |date=9 September 2021}} *{{ cite news |last1=Stagg |first1=Ronald |first2=Patrice |last2=Dutil |title=The Imbecile Attack on Egerton Ryerson. |newspaper=Dorchester Review |date=3 June 2021}} *{{ cite news |last1=Stagg |first1=Ronald |title=Update on the Ryerson Fiasco |work=Dorchester Review online |date=13 May 2022}}
==External links== * {{Commons category-inline|Statue of Egerton Ryerson}}
{{Public art in Toronto}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryerson, Egerton, statue of}} [[Category:1890 establishments in Ontario]] [[Category:1890 sculptures]] [[Category:2021 disestablishments in Ontario]] [[Category:Destroyed sculptures]] [[Category:Monuments and memorials in Toronto]] [[Category:Outdoor sculptures in Toronto]] [[Category:Sculptures of men in Ontario]] [[Category:Statues in Ontario]] [[Category:Statues removed in 2021]] [[Category:Toronto Metropolitan University]] [[Category:Vandalized works of art in Canada]]