Memorials of the Emerald Transect

“Commemoration is an act of respect and admiration, and takes form in all shapes and sizes, but consequently affects our perception of history and modern society. The Emerald Transect holds countless memorials, ranging from gallon sized statues to entire golf courses. The varying effects and purpose of each memorial sparked our investigation of the history behind the memorials of Boston and its unintended effects.” – Martina, Rebecca, and Christine

The Emerald Necklace hosts great pieces of history within its built environment, one of these apparent remains being public memorials. Memorials take shape in various forms and mediums, ranging from statues to forests, giving off vastly different impressions to those who interact with them. Their form consequently affects our perception of history and modern society. To understand how these memorials came to be, our group is going to look into the history behind the specific memorials and sites in the Emerald Necklace, and how these different forms lead to different recognitions of the area and the historical figure. Additionally, by conducting in depth research about each site, we hope to find how memorials bring us back to specific historical events or people, and how the differences in form influence our commemoration of them. We intend to focus on the different types of memorials and how they allow us to have different perceptions, and the connection to history may be an additional conclusion after conducting apt research. The Emerald Transect holds countless memorials, ranging from larger-than-life sized statues to golf courses. The different ways memorials are presented and their purpose in Boston sparked our investigation of their history and their unintended effects in social and political aspects of city life. 

Our interpretation of relational landscapes lies in the interactions between society and a specific site or memorial and how these interactions shape a given landscape. This can be evaluated from the lens of physical versus social relationships, and based on our observations, there is a significant divide between relationships formed as a result of social histories as opposed to ecological histories. Most of our monuments provide information about the historical origins of spaces that happen to idolize an overwhelming number of white men, and honor their influences on American history. We have always been taught versions of white-washed history, one that also marginalizes women, and we intend on continuing this ideal in our exploration of these monuments. The marginalization of minorities and women oftentimes can be an indirect or subconscious product of the white savior complex prolonging its intertwinement into history, however many times, it was intentional. There are many white men to commemorate for their participation in abolitionist movements and as war heroes, but there is no shortage of women and minorities to thank and commemorate for the same reasons in the same time periods. Only putting white men up on a pedestal moves the ever present spotlight over to them, rather than to the people that have always been helping from the background. We noticed a phenomenon as such in the Boston Women’s Memorial on the Commonwealth Ave Mall. It’s a beautiful monument, but it is grouping three very different women into one category – their gender. Why should it be labeled “The Boston Women’s Memorial” rather than a memorial to Lucy Stone, a memorial to Phillis Wheatley, and a memorial to Abigail Adams? Analyzing these monuments in such detail may seem like a tedious, unnecessary affair, but we believe that memorials are made to make people think and research further information. Showing the behind the scenes of how a statue is built, or how a name is chosen for a landscape, exposes many instances of racism, sexism, and a general affinity towards white men over minorities.

We have chosen 10 memorials across different sites in the Emerald Necklace to historically analyze. Our first site is the Arnold Arboretum; instead of focusing on a specific monument/memorial in the Arboretum, we are choosing to analyze the entire park as a site. We want to focus on how the Arboretum has changed over time and how it continues to commemorate Frederick Law Olmsted, James Arnold, and other important figures involved in its history. This landscape is different from the other sites covered because it is a collection of specific trees and plants across different cultures that make up an entire curated landscape. It acts as a transition between landscapes as memorials and the classic representation of a monument in a statue or figure of a person. We have chosen one sight within Franklin Park to historically analyze: Schoolmaster Hill. Although Schoolmaster Hill has not been named after a specific person, it was made to honor Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was a schoolteacher in Roxbury. Next is the Temple Bell in the Back Bay Fens. This monument is Japanese rather than American, so it holds an aspect of culture that the others do not have. The next 6 sites are all found on the Commonwealth Ave Mall or in Boston Common. From the Commonwealth Ave Mall, we chose the Leif Erikson Statue, the Boston Women’s Memorial, the statue of William Lloyd Garrison, the Boston Vendome Hotel Fire Memorial and the Alexander Hamilton Statue. From Boston Common we chose the classic George Washington Statue and the Shaw Memorial. All of these sites are evident memorials to a person or group of people, and although most of the statues are in honor of historically significant white men, most have some sort of underlying group of people that exist in the stories of the people that are being commemorated. For the Shaw memorial, this group of people is the black regiment. It is in honor of the first free black regiment in the Union. For the statue of William Lloyd Garrison, it is the black people that gave him, a white man, a voice in their community. The Women’s memorial is made to honor important women in history, and it was sculpted by a woman. These small instances of diversity among a sea of white-men run or designed landscapes and memorials are part of what we intend on focusing on in our exploration of what defines a memorial and how different memorials are presented. The groups of people that have been constantly marginalized in history deserve to have some of the spotlight, and we repeatedly noticed that there are countless examples of memorials in which one figure is commemorated and the others are left behind. Funnily enough, the one figure always happens to be a significant white man in America’s history. Our intention is not to put down the accomplishments of these men, but to bring to light the accomplishments of other groups of people that enabled the figurehead to be where they are today. We believe that the misrepresentation of black people, women, immigrants, and other minorities in history is a problem to be addressed, and the city of Boston should expand and fund more public art projects that honor the people in the background, rather than the main attractions.