Robert Gould Shaw Memorial

The magnificent bas-relief opposite the State House was sculpted by Augustus St Gaudens over nearly 13 years. It honors the 54th Massachusetts Regiment of the Union Army, the nation's first all-black Civil War regiment, depicted in the 1989 film Glory. The soldiers, led by 26-year-old Shaw, steadfastly refused their monthly stipend for two years, until Congress increased it to match the amount that white regiments received.

Shaw (the son of a wealthy Brahmin family), and half his men were killed in a battle at Fort Wagner, South Carolina. The NPS tour of the Black Heritage Trail departs from here.