By adamg on Tue., 10/31/2017 - 1:04 pm 
The Saint-Gaudens memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts across from the State House is better known, but there's a memorial in Hyde Park to the three black regiments who prepared for battle at Camp Meigs there.
Camp Meigs Playground is on Stanbro Street in Readville, a couple blocks away from where Camp Meigs was - before the land was turned into a racetrack and then a large warehouse complex. In addition to the memorial and a concrete cannon, it features several markers explaining the origins of the Union's first black regiments after Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
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readville
By bostnkid
Tue, 10/31/2017 - 1:49pm
my three old maid aunts used to live in readville. when we visited i thought it we were somewhere 50 miles outside boston. i played in that park as a boy and had no idea what it was all about until i was older and saw Glory.
And if you come down Hyde Park Avenue
By adamg
Tue, 10/31/2017 - 2:13pm
And go through the tunnel under the train tracks, it's like you're going through a portal to another decade - You've got the Wolcott General Store, the tiny post office and the tiny fire house and the gas station with the bench outside that always seems to have a couple of guys on it just watching the world (slowly) go by.
I drive through there every
By LM
Tue, 10/31/2017 - 5:34pm
I drive through there every day on the way to and from my daughter's school, and it really does feel like a spot out of time.
Curry College No Go
By anon
Thu, 11/02/2017 - 2:45pm
It's a dangerous spot too. Curry College "encourages" students to avoid the area. The fences between Curry and Boston still stand
This monument shows a lack of
By bulgingbuick
Tue, 10/31/2017 - 2:01pm
compromise.....
Wouldn't it be great
By EM Painter
Tue, 10/31/2017 - 2:38pm
...if there was an occasion to discuss the civil war on this site where we were not invited to go straight to sarcasm and hate?
Okay then
By anon
Tue, 10/31/2017 - 2:39pm
Why are you going there?
Sorry if you can't own slaves anymore. Such a pity.
I suppose it would
By dmcboston
Tue, 10/31/2017 - 3:01pm
The park is named after Gen. Montgomery Meigs. He was the Quartermaster General of the Union forces. The 54th mustered out of there, as did all the others, because of the proximity of the railroad.
He went to West Point with Lee and held Lee responsible for prolonging the war. Say what you wish about Lee, but he was a superb field commander.
As the Union cemeteries were being filled up, Gen Grant ordered him to find another cemetery. He chose Lee's ancestral farm in Arlington, Virginia.
General Meigs' own son is interred in Mrs. Lee's rose garden.
There were a couple of real cannon there years ago, but they went missing during some construction during the Kevin White administration.
Wouldn't it be great
By BlackKat
Tue, 10/31/2017 - 3:11pm
if everyone agreed racist people should be looked down upon for being racist?
Watching Fox and Friends and listening to GOP talk radio
By bulgingbuick
Wed, 11/01/2017 - 2:08pm
I learned that the Civil War was about States Rights and uncompromising, immigrant laden Northern states aggression against the agricultural economy of the South, that the the destruction of Confederate monuments was just an attack on NASCAR fans and conservatism. MAGA...
Maybe we should remove all
By anon
Tue, 10/31/2017 - 5:14pm
Maybe we should remove all the Revolutionary War things around Boston too, since those also represent treason.
Look for character, not race
By O-FISH-L
Tue, 10/31/2017 - 5:15pm
While the history of the black struggle should be widely known, it was 50+ years ago that Dr. Martin Luther King wisely asked us to look beyond color and instead look at "content of character."
All the talk of racism here reminds me of a successful, black, Cape Verdean colleague who always said, "the loudest one in the room usually has the most to hide."
It was hysterical to see a CNN anchor describe black people rioting in France as "African Americans" just to avoid saying black. Most had never been to America or Africa but that was the PC way to describe them. Sad. God bless our veterans of all races, colors and creeds.
Done
By Ari O
Tue, 10/31/2017 - 7:03pm
I have no idea what race, color or creed you are, and I don't care, because I know you're an asshole.
Oh
By Michael
Wed, 11/01/2017 - 7:03am
I have an idea.
You'll be pleased to know
By Tim Mc.
Tue, 10/31/2017 - 11:53pm
You'll be pleased to know that "African American" has been falling out of favor in the past decade, and "Black" is now very widely considered perfectly fine. "African American", while awkward when overapplied, did have a useful role:
(From Wikipedia.)
My impression is that while it wasn't chosen to de-emphasize skin color itself, it ended up giving that impression, and that now people are swinging back towards wanting to be a bit more blunt about race issues. Which I think is a fine thing.
Oh, Fishy...
By whyaduck
Wed, 11/01/2017 - 8:28am
May I recommend an intensive study of the legacy of slavery in this country to you?
Oh, BTW, King also said: "Racial segregation must be seen for what it is, and that is an evil system, a new form of slavery covered up with certain niceties of complexity."
Something to hide?
By lbb
Wed, 11/01/2017 - 9:47am
You're pretty loud, Fishy. Are you hiding your views from your "successful, black, Cape Verdean colleague", who might not take so kindly to being your token Negro?
Oh Look
By anon
Wed, 11/01/2017 - 10:20am
Fishy has a few black friends!!!
Beau Geste
By anon
Tue, 10/31/2017 - 7:55pm
It would be nice to see the New England Patriots honor the fighting 54th followed by the playing of the national anthem.
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