Statue of USC founder Robert Widney VANISHES after college claimed it had been taken down for ‘cleaning’, as historian claims he’d backed lynchings

A statue of USC founder Robert Widney has mysteriously disappeared after being removed for “cleaning” amid controversy over his legacy of supporting lynchings.

This was reported by representatives of the University of Southern California. Daily Trojan that the statue was temporarily removed on November 28 for “maintenance and cleaning” but did not say when it might be returned.

After the ceremonial plinth was removed from the site, it has now emerged that it may have been secretly demolished in the hope of not drawing attention to their decision.

The University of Southern California told DailyMail.com: “The statue was removed on November 28 for repairs and cleaning.”

Widney was a famous lawyer and judge, but his involvement with the Militia Vigilance Committee in the late 1800s allegedly led him to target Native Americans and people of color in extralegal lynchings.

The pedestal that once held a statue of Robert Widney (pictured) lies empty outside the Widney Alumni House on the USC campus, weeks after it was removed for “cleaning.”

Widney was a famous lawyer and judge, but his association with a vigilante group that carried out extrajudicial lynchings in the late 19th century was controversial.

The Widney statue came under scrutiny during the Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020, when many institutions faced calls to cut ties to racist figures.

This led USC officials to cancel a tribute to the university’s fifth president, Rufus B. von Kleinsmid, a leading proponent of eugenics, in June of that year.

Eugenics is the concept of selective and forced breeding for the purpose of racial population control, which grew in popularity in the late 19th century when it was promoted by Kleinsmead.

The university removed the von Kleinsmid Center for International and Public Affairs in response to the BLM movement, and a bust of von Kleinsmid was also removed from campus after a unanimous vote of the board of trustees.

The building was renamed in honor of Joseph Medicine Crow, an author of Native American history and a graduate of the University of Southern California.

While USC has not admitted to quietly and permanently removing the Widney statue, it also took similar action over the summer.

The Trojan Athletics Stadium was named after Dean Cromwell, a former varsity track coach accused of racism and anti-Semitism.

The removal of the Widney statue (pictured) comes after the University of Southern California previously removed a tribute to its fifth president from campus due to outrage over his previous support of eugenics.

The stadium was renamed in honor of Allison Felix, another USC graduate who went on to become the most decorated American track and field athlete in US history.

After renaming and removing several controversial figures, many felt it was time to subject Widney to the same scrutiny.

Widney’s statue faced calls for removal for years and remained so, as he was lauded as one of the four founding fathers of the University of Southern California, credited with its growth in the mid-to-late 19th century.

When his statue was unveiled in 2014, the university even praised his immigration achievements and character during a time of widespread discrimination.

“One of the most memorable accounts of his life occurred in 1871, when Widney intervened during a violent anti-Chinese riot in the city, pulled out a pistol and rushed into the crowd to escort several immigrants to safety,” the university said.

But his ties to the Militia Vigilance Committee sparked outrage: Historians discovered that a vigilante group roamed Los Angeles to carry out lynchings of Native Americans and people of color.

UC Merced professor and historian weighs in on Widney’s legacy for Los Angeles Times in 2020 and found that he was “definitely” a supporter of extrajudicial lynchings.

The legacy of Widney’s brother, Joseph Widney, the second president of the University of Southern California, was also criticized, especially his racist writings in which he wrote that black and white people “cannot live together as equals.”