This Black History Month, explore our three parks, where you’ll find inspirational works of art that celebrate and honor the rich legacy and resilience of African American hidden figures and their pursuit of equality and freedom.
The Friends care for several nationally significant sculptures within the parks:
Robert Gould Shaw and Massachusetts 54th Regiment Memorial by Augustus Saint-Gaudens
One of the most acclaimed sculptures in the nation is located on the Boston Common. The memorial honors the African Americans from the northern states to join the fight in the Civil War.
The monument portrays Captain Robert Gould Shaw and his men marching down Beacon Street past the State House on May 28, 1863, on their way to South Carolina. Shaw is featured on his horse with 23 of the 54th soldiers marching alongside.
Saint-Gaudens, a prominent artist of his time, grew up in New York and Boston before training in Paris. It took him nearly fourteen years to complete this bas-relief bronze monument, regarded as the first civic monument to honor the valor and sacrifice of Black soldiers. The monument was supported through private donations and unveiled during a national ceremony in (date).
In the mid-1990s, the Friends of the Public Garden raised funds to restore and maintain the monument. It was rededicated in 1997 and again in 2022 during a ceremony hosted by the Shaw 54th Partnership. This partnership included the Friends of the Public Garden, the National Park Service, and the Museum of African American History in Boston and Nantucket, all collaborating to restore the monument’s infrastructure.
Boston Massacre Memorial honoring Crispus Attucks by Robert Kraus
The Boston Massacre Memorial was dedicated in 1888 near Boston Common, honoring Crispus Attucks, a man of African and Indigenous ancestry, along with the other victims of the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770.
The work of Robert Kraus features a memorial that depicts a standing bronze figure representing the Revolution, breaking the chains of tyranny and crushing the crown of tyranny beneath her foot. The bas-relief bronze plaque is based on a famous engraving by Paul Revere, illustrating events near what is now known as the Old State House. In the foreground of the frieze lies Attucks, the first person to die in the conflict.
Phillis Wheatley Memorial, part of the Boston Women’s Memorial by Meredith Bergmann
Located on the Fairfield-Gloucester block of Commonwealth Avenue Mall, the Women’s Memorial was dedicated in 2023 and depicts Abigail Adams, Lucy Stone, and Phillis Wheatley.
Phillis Wheatley was kidnapped in West Africa in 1761 and transported across the Atlantic to Boston aboard the Phillis. She was purchased by John Wheatley as a servant for his wife when she was just seven years old. She would go on to become a literary prodigy.
Her enslavers, the Wheatley’s, quickly recognized her intelligence and encouraged her to study theology and classical literature. At just 13, Phillis published her first poem, inspired by famous English poets like John Milton. Six years later, she released Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, which gained international acclaim and included works addressing themes of race, such as “On Being Brought from Africa to America.”
In 1771, Phillis Wheatley traveled to London with Nathaniel Wheatley, where she was warmly received and treated like a celebrity. She has been described by Professor Skip Gates in his book, The Trials of Phyllis Wheatley, as the “Oprah Winfrey” of her time. She wrote to a friend about the “unexpected and unmerited civility and kindness” she experienced from everyone she met.
Due to her frail health, Phillis passed away before finding a publisher for a second volume of her poems and letters. Her final manuscript was never found.
The Embrace by Hank Willis Thomas
Installed on Boston Common in January 2022, The Embrace serves as a poignant tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. This abstract sculpture features four intertwined arms, capturing the heartfelt hug they shared following his Nobel Peace Prize win in 1964. It is thoughtfully situated within the 1965 Freedom Plaza, which also honors the contributions of 69 civil rights leaders from Boston who were active from the 1950s to the 1970s.
The design by Hank Willis Thomas was chosen from a competitive pool of 126 submissions, highlighting its significance and creativity. Fabricated by the Mass Design Group in Walla Walla, Washington, the sculpture, a 20-foot-tall, 25-foot-wide artwork differs from the singular, heroic form of many memorials to Dr. King and others, instead emphasizing the power of collective action, the role of women as leaders, and the forging of new bonds of solidarity out of mutual empathy and vulnerability. The formal dedication on January 13, 2023, was a momentous occasion that drew several hundreds of attendees, dignitaries, and included the King’s son, along with one of their granddaughters, emphasizing the lasting impact of their legacy.
Tour the Black Heritage Trail in person or virtually:
The National Park Service Boston African American National Historic Site Black Heritage Trail begins at the Shaw 54th Memorial on Boston Common. It includes 13 more sites in and around Beacon Hill. Click here to take a virtual tour or download the NPS App.
The tour lasts approximately 90 minutes and covers approximately 1.4 miles.
Revisit some of our favorite programs:
Sit back, relax, and re-enjoy your favorite moments with The Friends! Click on the links below to revisit some of our most beloved virtual programs.
- A Community Conversation: The Power of Public Monuments in a Time of Racial Reckoning
- 54th MA Regiment: Interviews with Soldiers
- Boston Uncovered: The Black Heritage Trail
Things to do with children:
Recommended books by local authors for children 12 and up:
- The Trials of Phillis Wheatley: America’s First Black Poet and Her Encounters with the Founding Fathers by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
- The 21st Century Commemoration and History of Crispus Attucks Day: He Was The First to Defy, and The First to Die and His Name is Crispus Attucks!, by Haroon Rashid and the Friends of Crispus Attucks Association NFP
- Now or Never! 54th Massachusetts Infantry’s War to End Slavery, by Ray Anthony Shepard
The Museum of African American History will host a Children’s Storytime on February 19. Register here.