Where:
Massachusetts Historical Society
1154 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02215
Admission:
$10
Categories:
Lectures & Conferences
Event website:
http://www.masshist.org/calendar/event?event=2409
One of the most treasured objects belonging to the collection at the Massachusetts Historical Society is the battle sword of Robert Gould Shaw, the leader of the courageous 54th Massachusetts infantry, the first black regiment in the North. The prominent Shaw family of Boston and New York had long been involved in reform, including antislavery and feminism, and their son, Robert, took up the mantle of his family’s progressive stances, though perhaps more reluctantly. In this lecture, historian Douglas R. Egerton (Le Moyne College) focuses on the entire Shaw family during the war years and how following generations have dealt with their legacy.