Gould shaw, one of the civil wars first africanamerican units. The work specifically commemorates the july 18th, 1863 storming of Fort Wagner in which onethird of the 51sts men or officers were killed or wounded. Tell it with pride seeks to shine a spotlight on the group. Good morning. Im sarah greenough, the senior curator of photographs here at the national gallery of art, and i am the cocurator of this exhibition. Augusta Saint God dins began to work on this memorial in 1883. Initially he was going to take it a monument just dedicated to shaw himself. If you look at some of the examples in the case behind you, youll see one of his first ideas for the monument was to depict Colonel Robert Gould Shaw on a horse. That kind of depiction is often referred to as the man on the mount. However, colonel Shaws Family objected to that. They shout such a depiction was too grand a way to show their son. He was, after all, only 25 years old when he was killed at the battle of Fort Wagner. They thought that kind of depiction was better reserved for generals and not a colonel like shaw. Moreover, Shaws Family felt it would be more appropriate to show him with his troops. So saint gaudens went back to the drawing board, quite literally, and came up with this inception, with the idea of putting shaw surrounded by his troops. It was truly a revolutionary idea for the time, but even more revolutionary was the way that saint gaudens depicted the figures. He spent an immense amount of time trying to get all the details in the monument correct, the details of their equipment, the rifles, their knapsacks, their bed rolls, their hats, all of their uniforms. He borrowed photographs of shaw in order to render shaws face accurately. And if you look at the depictions of the africanamericans, you can see that hes very much individualized them. Some are older, some are younger, some had beards, some had thicker facial feature, some thinner. This might suggest to you that he had also perhaps tried to find either surviving members of the 54th regiment or perhaps surviving members of the 54th. Thats not the case. The men who posed for this in saint gaudenss studio. He hired men off the streets of New York to come in to the Studio And Pose for them. That gave us the idea to form an exhibition which would try and bring the members of the 54th to life. We sought to find photographs of the actual men of the 54th to bring them out of the shadows, as it were. Our original hope was that we might find hundreds of photographs of the soldiers of the 54. Indeed, there were close to 1,500 men who were members of the 54th massachusetts regiment during the two years that it existed. Alas, we were only able to find and borrow 18 photographs of men of the 54th. But that then forced us to think about expanding the exhibition in other, i think, very exciting and meaningful ways, to look at 1863 in a broader way and think about what sparked the formation of the 54th massachusetts regiment, to look at the other men and women who helped form it and who helped support it while it was in action. Thats what weve shown in the other room. So why dont we go in there . When the civil war broke out in april 1861, many africanamericans volunteered to join the Union Army, but they were not legally authorized to do so. It was only when president Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Problem Case in january 1863 that they could join the Union Army. It was at that moment that Governor Andrew of massachusetts leapt into action to form the 54th massachusetts regiment. He had actually been thinking about forming it for quite some time. Massachusetts in general and, of course, boston specifically, was a hotbed of abolitionist sentiment, and he had very much wanted to pull together a troop, a regiment of africanamerican soldiers. So he looked to the prominent abolitionists in the massachusetts area, in boston specifically, to form what was called a black committee, which consisted of not only noted africanamerican abolitionists such as frederick douglas, but also white abolitionists, as well, such as Wendell Phillips or George Luther sterns. They formed the black committee and started to rally support around the idea of forming a regiment of africanamericans. They got together a group of recruiters. Along this wall over here, we have pictures of many of the men and women who spread out across the north, seeking africanamericans to join the 54th massachusetts regiment. At the time, of course, during the civil war, each state would put forth a regiment of soldiers. So you would have the 110th New York regiment, for example, or the 20th massachusetts regiment. That means all the soldiers from that regiment came from massachusetts or New York. At the time there werent enough eligible africanamericans of eligible military age to support a regiment. So the recruiters fanned out across the north, seeking enlistments to join the regiment. In the end they gotten listments from all 15 northern states, all the border states and indeed some southern states as well. Enlistments even came from canada and the west indys. Most of the people who enlisted were freemen. There were some runaway slaves, though. The recruiters themselves were prominent abolitionists, people who, i think, will be familiar to many who love american history today, such as sojourner truth, martin robison delaney, who was a noted abolitionist, as well, as someone who was promoting the idea of black nationalism. There may be others, though, who are less well known to people today, such as Robert Purvis, who was the son of a british Cotton Broker and a free woman of color. He had actually been born in charleston, south carolina, lived quite a bit in philadelphia. He was so rich that he was known as the president of the underground railroad. As you can see from this wonderful degaratite we have, a very attractive man. Sojourner truth was also another one of the recruiters at this time. Charlotte for ten who was one of the women featured in our exhibition, she would have contact with the 54th regiment when they sailed to the Charleston And Buf fort area. She taught many of the 54th soldiers to read in a school she set up in that area. She was also the niece of Robert Purvis or, for example, charles lennox raymond, who was also a very prominent abolitionist in the 1850s and a noted speaker, someone who rivaled Frederick Douglass in prominence in the 1850s. And along these two walls here, we have pictures of some of the members of the 54th. Weve begun, of course, with a picture of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. He was offered the commission as colonel of the regiment by Governor Andrew. That was one of the first things Governor Andrew did. He made sure he had very firm leadership of the 54th. At the time, military regulations stipulated that the the Rank And File soldiers could be africanamericans, but the officers had to be white. That was the rule at the time. And Governor Andrew knew that it was important to have the leadership of the 54th be men from strong abolitionist families, which Shaws Family was. So he offered the leadership to shaw. Shaw was initially hesitant about accepting it. You might have heard or seen the movie glory, which came out in the late 1980s, starring Denzel Washington and matthew broderick. Matthew broderick played shaw, and the movie depicts shaws initial reluctance about accepting the commission. In part, he may have been hesitant to accept the commission because he was only 25 years old. Imagine leading such a momentous band of men at such a very, very young age. Other pictures along this wall i think are equally momentous. These two are made of soldiers right after they received their uniforms and their rifles at camp meags. We know they were issued their rifles in early may of 1863. These two soldiers from the same company i of the 54th, as soon as they got their uniforms and their rifles, seemed to have marched themselves down to the local Photographers Studio to have their pictures taken. Or look to this picture here. Frederick douglass had two sons who were in the 54th. Sergeant major Lewis Douglass was one of them. He was one of the highest ranking from time to time soldiers in the 54th. He was known as a very calm and courageous leader. I think you see that there in his stance and in his expression. Frederick douglass was someone who very much understood the power of photography and how photography could be used to spread his image across the land. And in spreading his image, helped to spread his ideas and helped convince people of the merit of him ideas. I think that you can see his son here has also inculcated some of that understanding of how useful photographer could be to him. Look at the way hes standing. He has his arms crossed, standing up very straight, very confidently. Look at the way he has angled himself, so that we can see those sergeant major stripes. He is displaying them quite proudly, quite confidently. Or look to this photograph of sergeant henry stewart. He had been responsible for getting a number of people to enlist in the 54th. And look how tall and straight he stands and how his sword is standing up so straight next to him. He paid an extra fee to the photographer to have his sword and his belt buckle and his Breast Plate and things on his cap highlighted with gold, as well as having his pants washed with blue, all to bring out, to highlight the importance of his uniform. Alas, we know the fate of many of these soldiers. Sergeant Henry Steward survived the battle of Fort Wagner, but he died of dysentery a little over a month later. And perhaps some of the most poignant photographs in the exhibition are of the young drummer boys as well as the other musicians. Some were as young as 13, 16 years old. Alexander johnson was 16 years old. You were supposed to be 18 years old to enlist, but many of the drummer boys, many of the musicians in the civil war would fib about their age. Apparently, one of the things that they would often do is they would write down the number 18 on a piece of paper, slip it into their boot or their shoe, and when asked how old they were, they would say, im 18, and i stand on my word. And so, of course, they were accepted. In many of the pictures of the drummer boys and other musicians, they look somewhat shy, tentative, perhaps scared. This was the first time they were having their picture taken. We know from accounts that Alexander Johnson weathered the battle of Fort Wagner extremely heroically. He was standing next to Colonel Shaw during the battle and carried important messages for shaw. So the scared look he has on his face may well just have been his unfamiliarity with being photographed and not so much a depiction of his character. Lets look over here. We have both officers and soldiers intermingled in our depiction. The 54th, although it was certainly segregated, as i said, the officers were white, the enlisted men were africanamerican by the terms of the military regulations of the time. They were quite united in their feelings and their stance on many issues. The 54th, when they enlisted, were promised the same pay as white soldiers at the time. Indeed, we have a wonderful poster here in the exhibition which it was one of the posters that was circulated throughout the north, seeking enlistees. You see, it says, 13 a month. However, when it came time to pay the soldiers, they the Union Army actually reneged on that offer. They were only going to pay the africanamerican soldiers 10 a month, not the 13 a month that they were offered. And we have here in the case here an extraordinary letter from corporal henry james gooding to president Abraham Lincoln, complaining about that disparity in pay. And he says quite pointedly to President Lincoln, are we soldiers, or are we laborers . As so many others would argue, you know, in the years thereafter, arguing for equal pay for equal work. And then he goes on to remind President Lincoln that as soon as the north had opened its armies up to enlistment by africanamericans, the south had tried to inhibit that by saying that any africanamerican soldiers who were caught would be killed outright. Summarily executed. Lincoln had said, you know, if you do that, you must treat all of our soldiers equally, black and white. Gooding in this letter goes on to say, if you tell the south that it has to treat all soldiers, black and white, the same, then why arent you paying all soldiers the same so wonderful, extraordinary letter. Indeed, when the Union Army refused to pay the africanamerican soldiers the 13 a month that they had promised, all of the 54th, both the officers and the soldiers, refused to accept any pay until they received the amount that they were due. It lasted 18 months before the problem was resolved. We have here along this wall two depictions of the battle of Fort Wagner. A Pen And Wash drawing that was made of the actual battle itself. It was an horrific battle. Fort wagner was one of several forts guarding charleston harbor. The 54th sailed from massachusetts to the south on may 28th, 1863. Initially, they did not do work that Colonel Shaw thought was befitting of the importance of this regiment, but in the middle of july, the opportunity came for the 54th to be involved in the charge on Fort Wagner. Indeed, to lead the charge on Fort Wagner. And even though Fort Wagner was an almost impenetrable fort, Colonel Shaw wanted the 54th to prove its metal, to demonstrate they were fit soldiers, as fit as any that the union had to offer. And so he volunteered the 54th to lead this charge. Fort wagner had been bombed by the Union Army mercilessly for days, and it did not crack. On july 18th, it was bombed throughout the day. The 54th charged that evening. Colonel shaw charged the top of the parapet, and as this print demonstrates, almost as soon as he got to the parapet and yelled, forward, 54th, he was shot dead and fell right there. As he was mounting the parapet, standing next to him was a young africanamerican sergeant from new bedford, massachusetts, sergeant william carney. And carney saw at that moment the Flag Bearers start to drop the flag. The flag was critically important at this time because the flag showed the rest of the regiment where to go. Before walkietalkies and any kind of electronic communication, you followed the flag. If the Flag Bearer dropped the flag, you didnt know where to go. Carney saw the Flag Bearer dropping the flag, and even though he was wounded, he threw away his own gun and he picked it up and he planted it on top of the parapet. That is probably what were seeing here, a depiction of that, of that event. It was something for which an action for which he was widely celebrated. After Sergeant Carney planted the flag at Fort Wagner, the order to retreat came. He very carefully furled the flag up and brought it back to the 54th headquarters and presented it to the officers of the 54th. When he did, he uttered words that became immortalized. He said, boys, i but did my duty. She never touched the ground. And those words got quoted in the northern press numerous times. They actually became a Recruiting Tool used by the Union Army to get other africanamericans to enlist in the army. And you can see evidence of that here in this print, which depicts a banner that was hung in front of a Recruiting Station in philadelphia. This panel in the banner shows a wounded Sergeant Carney being tended to by another soldier with words above it saying, boys, i but did my duty. She never touched the ground. For his actions, Sergeant Carney was awarded the medal of honor, the first africanamerican to ever receive the medal of honor. He was awarded that in december 1863. However, because of an administrative oversight, he did not receive the medal of honor until 1900. Indeed, it wasnt until an exposition in paris, when this saint gardens memorial that we have here at the national gallery was being exhibited, and one of the organizers of that fair was doing an exposition that was talking about africanamericans in the united states. That organizer asked carney if he could borrow the medal of honor, and carney said, essentially, what medal of honor . I never received the medal of honor. That person then helped to rectify the wrong, and carney in 1900 was finally sent his medal of honor all those many years after the action which for which he was awarded it. He did not even, though, have a ceremony at that time, giving him this medal of honor. It was sent to him through the mail. His great great grand nephew, carl cruz, who has lent us his medal of honor for this exhibition, suggests that because carney was a Mail Carrier in new bedford, massachusetts, that perhaps carney was not insulted at having the medal sent through the mail. But this was one more indication of the importance of the u. S. Mail. I think that thats probably a generous interpretation, as generous as Sergeant Carneys own letter to the u. S. War department, telling them how honored he was to receive this medal in 1900. But i think a wonderful sort of fitting end to this story is the photograph that Sergeant Carney had made of himself right after he received the medal of honor. You can see that hes dressed himself up in a suit, marched himself down to a Photographers Studio, and had this wonderful picture taken of himself with the medal of honor pinned to his chest. I think its no coincidence that he had this photograph taken at a studio that was run by james e. Reed. Mr. Reed was one of the very few africanamericans to own and operate his own Photography Studio in massachusetts at this time. As you may know, at the time, the military didnt have any regularized way of informing families about the fate of their loved ones in battle. And although there were reporters covering the 54th, and immediately after the battle of Fort Wagner, there were accounts in the northern press about the action and about the horrific loss of life, colonel Shaws Family did not know officially for over two weeks that he had died. This letter here from an anonymous individual written to colonel Shaws Family on july 31st, 1863, was a first official account of his death that they received. It tells how general gilmore, the general in charge of the action, had ordered the 54th to march into Battle Side by side with other white regiments. The author of the letter notes, tell it with pride to the world. Thats where the title of our exhibition comes from. Announcer the Shaw Memorial is a Plaster Cast of the boston common in massachusetts. Youve been watching american artifacts on cspan3s american history tv. American history tvs american artifacts visited the national gallery of art to learn about an exhibit featuring the memorial to robert Gould Shaw and the 54th massachusetts volunteer infantry. Up next, an additional segment from the program with cocurator saro greenough, regarding the legacy of the memorial and efforts to conserve the once neglected Bronze Sculpture in boston. The 54th massachusetts regiment, augusta saintgauden Shaw Memorial, has continued to reverberate through american culture in the 20th and 21st century. Artists, poets, writers have reflected on its importance throughout this time. There have been poems written to it, composers have reflected on it. St. Gaudens himself was one of the first people to try and promote knowledge about his memorial as soon as it was installed. He commissioned curtis and cameron, who were a company that made prints that circulated images of the finest works of art that america had created. They circulated these images to colleges and libraries and schools throughout the country. He commissioned them to make a photograph and a print of the Shaw Memorial that was sold to schools and libraries. You could buy it in a variety of different sizes in the late 19th and early 20th century. Because he wanted people to see and understand this monument and also the importance of the 54th. We can get a sense of how widely it circulated in this wonderful photograph by lewis hine. Hine is, of course, a photographer who is most wellknown for the pictures he made in the early 20th century depicting Child Labor and the evils it had caused. But in the early 1920s, he made a series of photographs which he titled the new negro, which were designed to counter very hideous racial stereotypes at that time. And this is a photograph which, as you can see, depicts an africanamerican couple, husband and wife, in their wellappointed parlor. Each reading to a child. Hanging in the background behind them is a depiction, is one of these Curtis Cameron prints. It is clearly an image about passing on history, passing on information about ones past to ones children. It is an image of racial pride and heritage. The Shaw Memorial was installed on the boston common in 1897. The Bronze Version of the Shaw Memorial, that is. But by the 1970s, it had fallen into a rather pitiful state. You can see from Richard Bensons photographs that it is covered in bird droppings. Shaws sword had been broken off numerous times. It had not been conserved in many years. And both Richard Benson and Lincoln Kerstein wanted to focus attention on it. They also wanted to get bostonians to inscribe the names of the members of the 54th on the back side of the memorial. So they published a book called lay this laurel, which included a number of Richard Bensons photographs, as well as writings by Lincoln Kerstein. They selected writings by walt whitman, emily dickinson, Frederick Douglass and others. Extremely beautiful publication. Indeed, it did almost shame bostonians and others into taking better care of the memorial. The memorial was conserved, and the names of the 54th were inscribed on the back of it. Weve concluded our exhibition with examples by two other artists who have continued to reflect on the importance of the 54th, seeing them as a symbol of cultural and racial pride. Of course, the very wellknown Artist Carrie may weems. This is from a series of photographs she made, from here i saw what happened and i cried. Its a number of images that look back at how africanamericans have been depicted by others over time. And here, she took one of Richard Bensons photographs and she printed it through a blood red filter which, of course, gives this sense of all the blood that was shed. Then she has placed it behind a glass on which she has etched the words, restless after the longest winter you marched and marched and marched. Suggesting the very long process of the struggle for civil rights. And finally, weve ended the exhibition with two photographs by the africanamerican photographer william earle williams, who has made a series of pictures which he titles unsung heros which depict places where africanamerican soldiers have where africanamerican soldiers during the civil war fought. He has made a number of pictures around Fort Wagner, depicting the places where the 54th had significant encounters. Weve particularly ended the exhibition with the one photograph that shows all that remains of Fort Wagner. It is no longer Fort Wagner essentially no longer exists. It now is submerged underwater, and its marked only by this light house. So its a wonderfully el jayic end to our exhibition. The exhibit, tell it with pride, closed in january 2014. Tell it with pride is also the title of a book published by the national gallery of art. Visit Nga Pin Gov to learn more. Next on the civil war, Caroline Wood Newhall of the Virginia Center for civil war studies discusses her research on black prisoners of war in the confederacy. She examined the misconception that all captured u. S. Colored troops were executed and goes on to describe how many were instead enslaved, including those born free in the north. The center for civil war studies at Virginia Tech hosted this online talk and provided the video. Todays Event Speaker is dr. Caroline wood nel