Philadelphia survey shows most residents want Harriet Tubman statue
PHILADELPHIA — Harriet Tubman was the overwhelming choice of Philadelphia area residents who took part in a survey asking which African American historical figure the city should honor with a statue.
Tubman’s name was listed 260 times out of a total of 1,041 suggestions from 515 respondents. The name that received the next highest number of mentions was Marian Anderson, listed 38 times.
The city’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy posted its public input survey on its website early last month and released the results Monday.
Of the 1,041 suggestions, there were 223 “unique names” of African Americans, the report said.
Here are the top five names and the number of times they were suggested:
Harriet Tubman, 260; Marian Anderson, 38 ; Leon H. Sullivan, 37; the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 36; and Frederick Douglass, 28. Some others included John Coltrane, 25; Paul Robeson, 19; and former President Barack Obama and civil rights leader Malcolm X each garnered 13 mentions.
The report initially said: “The majority of respondents, almost 25%, want a statue of Harriet Tubman.” However, that 25% figure actually applies to the number of suggestions that included Tubman, rather than the number of respondents who did.
Some observers questioned whether the city’s report should have said that more than 50% of the 515 people who responded named Tubman.
Faye Anderson, a public historian who has filed Right-to-Know requests about earlier plans for a statue, questioned how the data were presented.
“OACCE has now understated support for Harriet Tubman by inviting the public to submit three names in the ‘African American Historic Sculpture Public Survey.’ The fact is more than 50% of respondents want a statue memorializing the American icon. Tubman’s legacy is dishonored by diluting that support.”
Maisha Sullivan-Ongoza, of the Celebrating the Legacy of Nana Harriet Tubman Committee, said the group was still studying the report. But she raised doubts about the interpretation of the results.
“The math ain’t mathing,” she said.
After the questions were raised, Kelly Lee, the city’s chief cultural officer, said the report was amended to explain the number of “responses” compared to the number of “respondents.”
“We updated the survey results on the website that now states:
”RESULT: The majority of the 1,041 responses, almost 25%, were for a statue of Harriet Tubman who was suggested the most times. The majority of the 515 survey respondents, almost 51% want a statue of Harriet Tubman.”
