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The Common has long been a place to remember the fallen

Boston and New York Civil War veterans gather on the Common to commemorate Memorial Day in 1886

On Memorial Day, 1886, Civil War veterans from Boston and New York gathered at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Boston Common.

See the full photo.

If you're in Allston or Brighton, here's a map of all the hero squares.

Photo from the BPL, used under this Creative Commons license.

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Comments

Such haunted faces.

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That was the style and culture of the era. Even most wedding, family and sports team portraits were unsmiling.

Later during card games and drinks, I'd bet they were a fully animated bunch. Not to say that some weren't haunted by their experiences, but it is hard to tell from a formal portrait photo of that time.

Kind of like when a visiting foreign tourist animatedly stopped myself and a classmate near the Great Dome of MIT, all smiles and friendly, and asked that we take a picture of him. As we set up the shot he struck a severe pose and his face went all stern and serious, morphing back into an excited thankful and animated man once the snap was done.

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I don't see anyone from The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry in this picture. It wasn't until 1897, 11 years later on Memorial Day that the 54th Massachusetts got their own separate monument.

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