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Carl Schurz

Artist: Daniel Huntington, 14 Oct 1816 - 18 Apr 1906
Sitter: Carl Schurz, 2 Mar 1829 - 14 May 1906

Date: 1899

Type: Painting

Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: Frame: 162.2 × 136.8 × 12.1 cm (63 7/8 × 53 7/8 × 4 3/4"); Stretcher: 126.7 × 101.6 × 2.2 cm (49 7/8 × 40 × 7/8")

Topic: Interior; Home Furnishings\Furniture\Seating\Chair; Printed Material\Book; Home Furnishings\Furniture\Table; Printed Material\Papers; Equipment\Drafting & Writing Implements\Writing implement\Pen; Personal Attribute\Facial Hair\Beard; Carl Schurz: Male; Carl Schurz: Law and Crime\Lawyer; Carl Schurz: Politics and Government\Statesman; Carl Schurz: Politics and Government\Diplomat; Carl Schurz: Journalism and Media\Newspaper editor; Carl Schurz: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\Brigadier General; Carl Schurz: Politics and Government\Cabinet member\Secretary of Interior; Carl Schurz: Politics and Government\US Senator\Missouri; Carl Schurz: Politics and Government\Diplomat\Minister; Carl Schurz: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Revolutionary; Carl Schurz: Military and Intelligence\Soldier\Civil War\Union; Carl Schurz: Politics and Government\Chief of Staff; Carl Schurz: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\Major General; Portrait

Credit Line: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Restrictions & Rights: CC0

Object number: NPG.81.20

Exhibition Label: Born Erfstadt, Prussia (now Germany); While representing Missouri as a U.S. senator (1869–75), Carl Schurz began a crusade to reform the civil service, which he continued as secretary of the Department of the Interior (then located in this building) from 1877 to 1881. Schurz concentrated on eradicating widespread corruption that plagued the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He dismissed agents and traders who cheated Indigenous communities for personal gain and fended off the War Department’s efforts to acquire oversight of the bureau. Having immigrated to the United States in his youth, Schurz strongly believed in assimilation and promoted the acculturation of Native Americans through education, rather than forced removal to government reservations.; Schurz later became active in the anti-imperialist movement. In opposition to expansionists such as Henry Cabot Lodge and Theodore Roosevelt, he objected to the intervention of the United States in Cuba and the Philippines in 1898, warning that imperialism would be democracy’s downfall.; Nacido en Erfstadt, Prusia (hoy Alemania); Siendo senador por Misuri (1869–75), Carl Schurz inició una cruzada para reformar el servicio civil, la cual continuó como secretario del Departamento del Interior (entonces ubicado en este edificio) de 1877 a 1881. Schurz se propuso erradicar la corrupción que plagaba a la Oficina de Asuntos Indígenas. Despidió a los agentes y tratantes que timaban a las comunidades nativas para beneficio propio y esquivó los esfuerzos del Departamento de Guerra por controlar la oficina. Habiendo migrado a EE.UU. en su juventud, Schurz era un firme partidario de la asimilación y promovía la aculturación de los nativos americanos a través de la educación, no del traslado forzoso a reservaciones del gobierno.; Más tarde, Schurz estuvo activo en el movimiento antiimperialista. Opuesto a expansionistas como Henry Cabot Lodge y Theodore Roosevelt, objetó a la intervención de EE.UU. en Cuba y las Filipinas en 1898, advirtiendo que el imperialismo sería la ruina de la democracia.
Provenance: New York Chamber of Commerce; purchased 1980 NPG

Data Source: National Portrait Gallery

Exhibition: Out of Many: Portraits from 1600 to 1900
On View: NPG, East Gallery 140