Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Regiment Memorial (The Shaw Memorial)

Augustus Saint-Gaudens's bronze 'Shaw Memorial' was dedicated in 1897 and commemorates Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, one of the first predominantly African American units in the Union Army. The large relief and equestrian group stands on the plaza of the Massachusetts State House and is regarded as a major work of American sculptural art. The memorial's imagery and historical subject have made it a focal point for Civil War and African American history in Boston.