This photo, taken by Josh Cotton, shows the Dr. Warren statue in Gen. Joseph Warren Park that was dedicated in July 1910.

The Dr. Joseph Warren Foundation wants at least one more statue of Warren’s namesake to be built in Washington, D.C.

Now that President Donald Trump has reestablished his 2020 proposal for a National Garden of American Heroes, foundation officials are pushing for Warren to be included in the garden. Trump signed an executive order earlier this year to build the garden, to feature 250 life-size statues of historical figures in honor of the country’s 250th birthday on July 4, 2026. Applications for sculptors are due in early July, though the administration no longer seeks to have it completed by next summer. It is likely not to be completed until 2029.

“The importance of Dr. Warren’s contributions cannot be overstated,” foundation officials wrote on their change.org petition. “It has been suggested that had Warren survived, General George Washington might have remained an unknown figure. This emphasizes the towering legacy Warren left behind and the immeasurable impact he had in shaping America as a model of freedom and democracy. It is crucial that we honor Dr. Warren by erecting a statue in his memory within the National Garden of Heroes. Not only does he deserve recognition for his sacrifices, but his story can inspire optimism and courage in the hearts of all Americans.”

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved $40 million for the project, which is being overseen by the Department of Interior and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Senate hasn’t yet approved the funding.

Trump’s original 2020 included George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr., all already represented on or near the National Mall in Washington, along with Susan B. Anthony, Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Frederick Douglass, Amelia Earhart, Billy Graham, Douglas MacArthur, Christa McAuliffe, Jackie Robinson, Betsy Ross, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington and Orville and Wilbur Wright. The 2020 order includes language to make clear that non-U.S. citizens who played significant roles in American history also could be honored in the garden, including examples such as Christopher Columbus; Junipero Serra, a Roman Catholic priest who established Spanish missions in California; and the Marquis de La Fayette, a French officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War.

President Joe Biden rescinded Trump’s original order in 2021, abolishing the Trump-formed task force to create the new monument.

Dr. Joseph Warren, namesake of the city and county of Warren, was killed on June 17, 1775. Warren trained as a doctor – serving John Adams’ family, among others – according to the New England Historical Society recounted in a 2019 story in the Times Observer.

“Warren also had Loyalist patients: the children of Thomas Hutchinson, British Gen. Thomas Gage and his wife Margaret,” according to the NEHS. “After his own wife died, Joseph Warren is believed by some to have had an affair with Margaret Gage, who may have tipped him off about the British plans to raid Concord and arrest Hancock and Adams.”

Warren then took on a leadership role in Boston with the Sons of Liberty.

“In 1775, he won election as president of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress,” according to the NEHS. “In addition to practicing medicine in Boston, he gave speeches, wrote newspaper essays and authored the Suffolk Resolves, a bold declaration of resistance to British authority.”

Warren was killed on June 17, 1775 during the Battle of Bunker Hill outside Boston.

While he had been commissioned a general, a National Park Service article notes that Warren “refused to take command, instead going into the line as a regular volunteer. On the third and final British assault near the redoubt, while attempting to rally the militia, Warren was instantly killed by a ball between the eyes.”

The New England Historical Society further reports that the British “stripped his body and stabbed it beyond recognition, then threw him into a shallow grave with another patriot killed in the battle.”

According to the NPS, Paul Revere identified Warren’s body “by the set of false teeth he had fashioned for him.”

The Warren County Historical Society said in a Facebook post that “there is no record of him setting foot here, though 14 counties in the United States are named after Warren with four known monuments – three in the Boston area and one in the city of Warren.

“In a world where the lines between true heroism and notoriety often blur, we need true heroes to look up to–figures who embody courage, vision, and sacrifice,” Dr. Joseph Warren Foundation officials wrote. “Dr. Joseph Warren is one such figure, a significant yet often overlooked hero in American history. His legacy deserves to be immortalized in the National Garden of Heroes, ensuring that future generations recognize and remember his deep impact on the birth of our nation.”