The Partnership to Renew the Memorial has created a model for the nation for the use of a preservation and restoration project to be a catalyst for a broad conversation on race, equity, and social justice. The heroes of the glorious 54th inspired us to move forward, just as they proclaimed as they headed into battle: Forward 54th Forward.

Co-Chairs

Charlie Baker Governor, State of Massachusetts
Michelle Wu Mayor, City of Boston
Kim Janey former Mayor, City of Boston
Robert Stanton Former and first African American Director, National Park Service
Martin J. Walsh Co-chair Emeritus, former Mayor of Boston

Committee Members

Catherine Allgor President, Massachusetts Historical Society
Renée Ater Provost Visiting Professor, Brown University
Martin Blatt Civil War Historian; Professor, Northeastern University
David Blight Professor of American History, Yale University, Director, Gilder Lehman Center
Andrea Campell Boston City Council President, District 4
Colin “Topper” Carew Director, Code Next; Visiting Scholar, MIT
Adelaide Cromwell Historian; Co-Founder of the Department of African Studies, Boston University
Drew Faust Civil War Historian and President Emerita, Harvard University
Bernie Fulp President, GoBiz Solutions, Inc.
Carol Fulp Chief Executive Officer, Fulp Diversity LLC
Henry Louis Gates Professor and Director, Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, Harvard University
David Hencke U.S. Army (Ret.), Executive Officer, 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment
Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham Professor of History and of African and African American Studies & Chair, Department of History, Harvard University
Karen Holmes Ward Director of Public Affairs and Community Services, WCVB – TV
Paula Johnson President, Wellesley College
Rick Kendall Superintendant, Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site
Ted Landsmark Professor and Director of Kitty and Michael Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy, Northeastern University
Cheryl LaRoche Department of American Studies, University of Maryland
Henry Lee President Emeritus, Friends of the Public Garden
Brent Leggs Director, African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, National Trust for Historic Places
David McCullough Pulitzer Prize Recipient; Historian, Author, Narrator
Robert Minturn Shaw descendant who donated Shaw’s sword to the Massachusetts Historical Society
Frank Moran Representative and Chair, Massachusetts Black and Latino Political Caucus
Beverly Morgan-Welch Associate Director for External Affairs, National Museum of African American History & Culture, Smithsonian Institution
Lee Pelton President, Emerson College
Colette Phillips President & CEO, Colette Phillips Communications
Harold I. Pratt Founder and Partner, Nichols and Pratt, LLP
Byron Rushing Former Massachusetts State Representative
Sarah-Ann Shaw Retired WBZ-TV Reporter
Frank Smith Founding Director, African American Civil War Museum
John Stauffer Professor of English and of African and African American Studies, Harvard University
Steve Tompkins Suffolk County Sheriff
Col. Dana Sanders-Udo Commander, 54th Mass Volunteer Regiment and Chief of Diversity and Inclusion, Massachusetts Army National Guard.
Liz Walker Pastor, Roxbury Presbyterian Church
Edith Walker Descendant of John J. Smith, famed abolitionist and Massachusetts State Representative
Benny White* President, 54th Massachusetts Regiment, Company A
Linda Whitlock Founder and Principal, The Whitlock Group
Mary Minturn Wood Shaw descendant who donated Shaw’s sword to the Massachusetts Historical Society
Steven Wright Partner, Holland and Knight
* Deceased
Click here to view committee photos.

The Shaw 54th Restoration Project began.Read the project press release.

The iconic bronze bas-relief of the Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial is back on the Boston Common and soon will open to the public. Read coverage in the Boston Globe, Associated Press, WCVB, and Boston Herald for an in-depth look at the Memorials return to the Common.

The press release has been posted to the State House News Service website and North End Waterfront News, as well as on the Boston and Beacon Hill Patch sites.

The bronze conservation was featured on the front page of the September 23, 2020 edition of the Boston Globe. Read the full Boston Globe article here.

Stories appeared in the Boston Globe Metro Section, the Boston Herald, MSN, and in the Boston Business Journal’s “5 Things to Know Today” Newsletter for Memorial Day.

Friends of the Public Garden Executive Director, Liz Vizza was interviewed by three television news stations for weekend coverage on WCVB 5, Black News Channel, and WBZ-TV 4 for their online streaming service – which all ran on Memorial Day 2020. There was an article in the Beacon Hill Times.

Liz Vizza from the Friends, and the Director of Education and Interpretation at the Museum of African American History, L’Merchie Frazier were interviewed again by WBZ-TV 4 with on-the-ground footage of the Restoration.

A vacant plot of land in Hyde Park is the location where the 54th Regiment camped before going south to fight in 1861. Today, a development proposal is in place to build townhomes on the land, some are fighting to preserve it.

MAY 31, 2021: “How Black Civil War Veterans Inspired The Very First Memorial Day,WGBH
MAY 30, 2021: “Shaw 54th Massachusetts Regiment Memorial ceremonial unveiling event on Memorial Day,Boston Herald
MAY 28, 2021: “Monument honoring Black Civil War unit back on full display,AP
MAY 28, 2021: “Shaw Memorial Honoring Black Union Army Soldiers Unveiled After A Year-Long Restoration Project (Liz Vizza Interview),WBUR
MAY 27, 2021: “Memorial honoring bravery of 54th Regiment returns to Boston Common (Liz Vizza Interview),WCVB
MAY 26, 2021: “Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial to reopen Friday on Boston Common,Boston Globe
MARCH 3, 2021: “Black soldiers monument returns after $3M restoration (Interview with Leslie Adam),WCVB-5
MARCH 3, 2021: “Black soldiers monument returns to Boston Common after $3M restoration,Boston 25 News
MARCH 3, 2021: “Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial returns to the Boston Common,Boston Herald
MARCH 3, 2021: “Civil War memorial to 54th Regiment returns to Boston Common,Boston Globe
MARCH 3, 2021: “Black soldiers monument returns after $3M restoration,AP
FEBRUARY 24, 2021: “Boston restores monument to Black Civil War troops,PBS News Hour
MAY 26, 2020: “Shaw 54th regiment memorial work underway at Boston Common,Boston Herald
MAY 25, 2020: “$2.8 million restoration of Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial underway in Boston,WCVB
MAY 25, 2020: “Shaw 54th Memorial restoration project readies For construction on Boston Common,North End Waterfront News
MAY 22, 2020: “Renovations Start on Civil War Memorial honoring the Massachusetts 54th Regiment,Boston Globe
OCTOBER 15, 2019: “Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial to Undergo Multi-Million Dollar Restoration,NBC
OCTOBER 15, 2019: “Shaw 54th Regiment memorial to be restored, repaired,Boston Herald
OCTOBER, 2019: “Shaw 54th Memorial getting $2.8M facelift,WCVB
OCTOBER 15, 2019: “Civil War memorial across from State House will be taken down for major face lift,Boston Globe
SEPTEMBER 4, 2019: “Public Garden’s Robert Gould Shaw memorial slated for restoration,Bay State Banner
SEPTEMBER 21, 2018: “Revisiting and Reliving the History of the Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial,WGBH
AUGUST 16, 2018: “Restoring the Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial,The Bay State Banner
JULY 30, 2018: “Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial to undergo major restoration,” Curbed Boston
JULY 27, 2018: “Facelift for Civil War memorial on Common to spark talks on race,The Boston Globe
JULY 27, 2018: “Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial To Undergo Restoration,The ARTery, WBUR

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