President Trump marked Black History Month Thursday by announcing that Prince Estabrook, an enslaved Revolutionary War soldier, will be added to his proposed Garden of American Heroes.
“Prince Estabrook answered history’s call and fought as a MInutemen alongside other patriots of the very small Massachusetts town,” Mr. Trump said in remarks from the White House. “His legacy will endure.”
Estabrook fought and was wounded at the battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775. He survived and continued to serve in the Continental Army until the war ended in 1783.
Ultimately, Eastbrook was freed and returned to Massachusetts after the war.
The Garden of American Heroes was first proposed by Mr. Trump during his first term. It would feature statutes memorializing 250 historical figures. Muhammed Ali, Harriet Tubman, Whitney Houston, George Washington Carver and Kobe Bryant are among the Black historical figures who would be included in the garden.
Mr. Trump last month signed an executive order to start construction on the garden to coincide with the nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026.
Among the attendees at the White House event were Tiger Woods, Sen. Tim Scott, South Carolina Republican, and Leo Terrell, an attorney and Trump supporter.
The White House event comes amid Mr. Trump’s complicated relationship with Black voters.
He has spent much of his first month abolishing decades of diversity efforts throughout the federal government and beyond, firing federal employees and declaring war on diversity equity, and inclusion programs. Mr. Trump has disparaged the programs as “dangerous” and “immoral.”
Still, Mr. Trump won 20% of the Black vote in this past election, according to exit polls.
That’s the highest level of support for a Republican presidential candidate in over 50 years and a significant improvement over his 8% support from the community when he won the 2016 election.