The Partnership to Renew the Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial invites you to celebrate the successful completion of the restoration of the Memorial on June 1. 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.
This free event is open to all. View the live event via Jumbotron on Boston Common. Enter lawn seating area via Tremont Street entrance (by Park Street T station). Feel free to bring your chairs & blankets. Masks and social distancing encouraged. The event will be available for viewing via livestream on Facebook and YouTube.
Please sign the digital Witness to History book to commemorate the unveiling of the completed Robert Gould Shaw and
Massachusetts 54th Regiment restoration project. The National Park Service has compiled an online database of the 54th Regiment soldiers and officers as part of their “Faces of the 54th” project. View the database here. If you are a descendant of the Shaw Mass. 54th Regiment, fill out the form here. Read the Bay State Banner article about the project.
The work began in the summer of 2020, and was initially planned to take 5-6 months. Due to a combination of factors, including the COVID pandemic, the restoration project ended up taking over a year and a half to complete. All of the bronze and stone was removed from the plaza level up, taken offsite to two different conservation studios, with the bronze bas-relief meticulously restored locally. New waterproofing was installed under the plaza’s brick, and a new concrete foundation has been built under the bronze, and everything replaced, pinning the bronze to the marble structure that surrounds it. Also,the team installed a new stainless-steel frame between the bronze and the marble, designed to stabilize the entire monument.
The plaza substructure has been protected by installing a system called “cathodic protection” into the concrete under the plaza. This protects the steel support beams from corrosion by introducing another metal known as sacrificial. Through the use of an electrical current, the corrosion is drawn to the sacrificial metal instead of the steel beams. Read all about it at https://friendsofthepublicgarden.org/shaw54th/
