Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts Regiment Memorial is dedicated.

Artist: Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Despite a drenching rain, thousands of people, including nearly 600 former members of the regiment, take part in the ceremony across from the State House. The first public monument in the U.S. to portray African-Americans heroically, it is subsequently described by the National Gallery of Art as, “The greatest American sculpture of the 19th century.” Although the original design had called for only a depiction of Col. Shaw, his family insisted it must include his troops. Speakers at the various events include William James (whose two brothers were officers in the unit), Booker T. Washington. Robert Lowell later writes, “. . . at the dedication, / William James could almost hear the bronze Negroes breathe. / Their monument sticks like a fishbone / in the city’s throat.” Initially only the names of the white officers killed in the battle appear on the monument. The names of the slain African-American enlisted men are not added until 1982. The monument is restored and rededicated on June 1, 2022.