Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial returns to the Boston Common

The striking Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial sculpture is back on the Boston Common and soon will open to the public after a $3 million renovation.

A crane settled the wood-packed and wrapped-up bronze relief of Col. Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts 54th Regiment back into its place on the Common on Wednesday morning as the project to restore it is about 80% done.

L’Merchie Frazier, the director of education for the Museum of African-American History, said the sculpture is “definitely one to highlight as one of the 10 treasured memorials nationally.”

She said the sculpture highlights the “valor and courage” of the famed regiment in the fight against slavery — and now will have 900 feet of signage giving further “context” to passersby.

“I’d like them to consider what they bring to it and what information they know about it may or may not change,” Frazier said. “What thoughts do they add as they learn more about the memorial?”

The large bronze relief shows Shaw, a white colonel, and the Black regiment he led.

“Most war memorials highlight a lone leader,” Frazier said. “This is a leader accompanied by his men.”

Bob Mulcahy of the Friends of the Public Garden said most of the work to the bronze sculpture were bits of maintenance under the stone and behind the metal.

“This is a terrific milestone having the bronze back to the construction site,” Mulcahy said. “So many of these improvements people will never see … This is really to get us that that next century.”

The setup across the street from the State House will include “interpretive signage” including “museum-like panels” and letters from Shaw, the organizations have said.

The monument honors the famed regiment of Black troops from Boston who spearheaded an attack on the Confederate Fort Wagner near Charleston, S.C., during the Civil War, suffering nearly 50% causalities. Their story was memorialized in the 1989 film “Glory.”

They were the first all-Black regiment raised in the North to see battle in the war. Created by sculptor Augustus Saint Gaudens, the bas relief depicts the troops marching to battle with Shaw astride his horse alongside.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3bZMPdp