Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park expands the story of sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens with the release of “To Heal the Wounded Nation’s Life: African Americans and the Robert Gould Shaw/54th Regiment Memorial" by historian Kathryn Grover. The special history study examines African Americans’ involvement in the creation of the Col. Robert Gould Shaw and 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment Memorial (Shaw/54th Memorial), reactions to its completion, and feelings about this unique Civil War memorial over time.
Perhaps Saint-Gaudens’ most celebrated sculpture, the Shaw/54th Memorial was unveiled on the Boston Common in 1897 to honor the first federally authorized African American regiment raised in the north and its white commander.
Park superintendent Rick Kendall notes, The Shaw/54th Memorial is one of Saint-Gaudens’s most important works. This study provides new texture and insight into efforts in Boston and elsewhere to create a memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the solders of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry and the monument’s reception by the African American community. Kathryn Grover’s research has added greatly to our knowledge of this sculpture and its social and political context."
The special history study spans from Black military service during the Revolutionary War to the memorial’s role in recent racial justice protests.
“The Shaw/54th Memorial was created during the 19th century, but the impact that it has had on various communities is still worth discussing today," say Dana Green, Public History and Art Fellow. Green, a Ph.D. student in History at Morgan State University, is currently completing a fellowship at the Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park to help cement African American perspectives in the long-term interpretation of the Shaw/54th Memorial. This research will inform the work of Green and park staff to share the many stories that converge at this ‘National Park for the Arts.’
The publication is now available for free download at www.nps.gov/saga.
The newly restored Shaw/54th Memorial can be viewed on the Boston Common across from the Massachusetts State House and is part of Boston African American National Historic Site. A bronze recasting of the sculpture is installed at Saint-Gaudens NHP in Cornish, NH. The grounds are open year-round; visitor services are provided from Memorial Day weekend through the end of October. A plaster version of the Shaw/54th Memorial is currently on loan to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
For more information about Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park and the Shaw/54th Memorial, visit www.nps.gov/saga.
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Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
