Why Monuments are Defaced or Destroyed Boston, MA

Christopher Columbus Defaced

Christopher Columbus Monument by Andrew J. Mazzola

Photos by Steven Passacantilli courtesy NorthEndwaterfront.com http:/northendwaterfront.com/2015/06/christopher-columbus-statue-vandalized/

Why are Monuments Defaced?

Christopher Columbus Carrara marble statue in Boston was defaced a few weeks ago to protest the on going conflict in some of our American cities between Afro-Americans and Local police forces.

A number of years ago a similar defacing and decapitation of the Christopher Columbus monument in the city of Boston occurred, at that time from an out cry of our native American community for injustices done to their people past and present.

Each protest to this white Carrara marble statue was indirectly symbolically aimed at our White Caucasian majority. Christopher Columbus symbolizes that White Caucasian Christian majority from Europe who dominated, conquered, controlled enslaved and almost eradicated these minority groups within America.

Monuments can bring out all sorts of feelings, emotions ideologies out from all people and all sectors of society.Monuments speak to each one of us in different and unique ways.

Christopher Columbus

Waterfront / Christopher Columbus ParkAndrew J. Mazzola, SculptorCarrara Marble

This monument is located in one of the most beautiful and historic parks within Boston.
The historic docks constructed and used for the Mercantile trade between Boston, Europe and the Caribbean during the 1600’s,1700’s and 1800’s border this park.

The Boston Parks Department Summer Concert Series and the Holiday lighting of the blue lit Arbor Ceremony all happen here, right before Christopher Columbus.

The Christopher Columbus Park was constructed in 1974, thanks to the efforts of a non-profit group formed by residents and businesses in the North End and Waterfront areas. This tribute to the park’s namesake explorer was added a few years later. In their proximity to the North End, the statue and park emphasize Columbus’s Italian heritage. The statue created by Andrew J. Mazzola of Norwood Monumental Works is carved from Italian Carrara marble, favored by sculptors for its quality and its translucence. The marble’s porous surface has also been susceptible to vandals, some of whom view Columbus as an oppressor, not a hero.

The voyages of Columbus molded the future of European colonization and encouraged European exploration of foreign lands for centuries to come.

Columbus’ initial 1492 voyage came at a critical time of emerging modern western imperialism and economic competition between developing kingdoms seeking wealth from the establishment of trade routes and colonies. In this sociopolitical climate, Columbus’s farfetched scheme won the attention of Isabelle of Castle. Severely underestimating the circumference of the Earth, he estimated that a westward route from Iberia to the Indies would be shorter than the overland trade route through Arabia. If true, this would allow Spain entry into the lucrative spice trade heretofore commanded by the Arabs and Italians. Following his plotted course, he instead landed within the Bahamas at a locale he named San Salvador. Mistaking the lands he encountered for Asia, he
referred to the inhabitants as (“indios,” Spanish for “Indians”). 

"Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us" can be purchased on Amazon.com, Fanuiel Hall Gift Store and Old North Church Gift Shop Boston, MA

A most Wonderful Letter about" The USS Boston and the Japanese Peace Bell" 1945.

A thank you letter from Lola Heiler- Stillman about my talk at the University of Mass OLLI lecture series.

Lola states,

"Thanks Joe for your kind reply.  I too have been laid up with medical problems - had hip replacement surgery in early June and now am going through PT to strengthen/straighten leg/hip.  I finally got a chance to order your book from Amazon as gifts for two of my friends who love Boston and its history.  One is an "OFD" (Originally From Dorchester) like me whose dad retired from the Boston public school system after 30 years of teaching high school history.  We both share a love and passion for the city of our birth and a desire to educate in our own unique ways.  She was the person who introduced me to OLLI at UMass Boston and helped me present a Quincy Access TV program on the bell/USS Boston and its connection to the city of Quincy (built at Fore River Shipyard in 1942/launched in 1943).

The Boston Courant did a brief article on the bell for this past week's edition.  The writer Jordan Frias was looking for a tie-in to WW2 70th anniversaries so I suggested he focus on 1945 when the USS Boston sailors found the bell at the Yokosuka weapons depot/foundry during the occupation.  I also stressed that 2015 is the 340th anniversary of the bell's casting.  

I continue to look forward to educating the public about Boston's peace bell and hope to write a monograph for the Emerald Necklace Conservancy that will be available to the public when they visitor the Shattuck Visitor Center in the Back Bay Fens.  Also plan to continue my relationship with OLLI UMass Boston by doing a presentation on my hero Frederick Law Olmsted and his Emerald Necklace parks next spring.  Will include a tour of the Back Bay Fens as part of the program.  I love what OLLI stands for so whatever contribution I can make brings me joy.

You as well have inspired me in my own Boston historic pursuits and I'm so glad to have had the opportunity to meet you in person.

Happy summer.  Lola."

This below quote taken from a March 19, 2012 article in Back Bay Patch by Lola Heiler- Stillman exclaims,

"Forged in 1675, the 450-pound bell rang for centuries in religious ceremonies at the Manpuku-ji temple in Sendai. During World War II, the Japanese government compelled its citizens to donate metals to be smelted down and turned into artillery, and the bells were granted no exception. As a result, nearly 95% of all of the temple bells in Japan were lost. During the American invasion of Japan, Navy soldiers found 500 bells ready to be repurposed into weapons of war and took several back to America. Capt. Marion Kelley of the USS Boston brought this particular bell back in 1946.Over the next decades, all but one of the bells were returned to their original homes in Japan as diplomatic gestures. When the US State Department contacted Sendai in 1953 to arrange the bell’s return, a group called the Temple Believers offered to allow the bell to remain in Boston as a gift. 'They were donating it in the spirit of peace and friendship between the two cities,' says Heiler-Stillman."

Thank you Lola for your passionate research and your kind words about my book "Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us", Joe Gallo

Another Japanese Peace Offering in our Boston Public Garden

Japonese Lantern Boston Public Gardens

Japanese Lantern (16th Century)

Boston Public Garden / near Bridge Donated by Japanese Art Dealer Bunkio Matsuki Iron / Granite
Ornamenting Boston’s beautiful Public Gardens, this iron lantern was a gift from the people of Japan in 1904.

The lantern is symbolic of the light brought to gardens by other Japanese lanterns and was donated by Japanese art dealer Bunkio Matsuki. Since the 7th century such lanterns were used in Buddhist temples and shrines. Matsuki was born in Japan where he was trained as a Buddhist monk but he immigrated to Boston in 1888 where he established a business promoting Japanese art. 

Taken from "Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us"

"Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us" can be purchased at Old North Gift Shop , Faneuil Hall Gift Shop and Amazon. Com.

Boston Landmark a monument to the Beginning of Memorial Day Celebration.

Upon entering the Massachusetts State House designed by Boston's own native son, Charles Bullfinch, a bronze monument resides.

Memorial Day Monument, a Boston Monument Landmark.

Grand Army Monument, another example of Boston Historic Art

Outside Beacon Hill State House south lawn Bronze Plaque 1930

“In 1868, Commander-in-Chief John A. Logan issued General Order No. 11 calling for all Departments and Posts to set aside the 30th of May as a day for remembering the sacrifices of fallen comrades, thereby beginning the celebration of Memorial Day.” 

Thus began the birth of our Memorial Day Weekend, Boston, MA. 

John A. Logan, is regarded as the most important figure in the movement to recognize Memorial Day( originally known as "Decoration Day") as an official holiday declared that May 30, 1868 be a "Decoration Day": decorating the graves of the war dead.

However, the first people who used ritual to honor this country's war dead were the formerly enslaved black community of Charleston, South Carolina, May 1, 1865 three years earlier then Commander Logan's declaration on May 30th 1868.

In the West African tradition of honoring their war dead by decorating the graves of their war dead back in Africa. The Charleston, South Carolina's Gullah people ( West African rice planters who were enslaved and sold at this port), Honored their fallen heroes both back and white on May 1, 1865 by having 3000 black children bearing roses with women and men bearing wreaths marched together decorating their fallen dead. Black troops were present including some of our 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Thus our roots of our National Memorial Day commemoration.

"Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us"  the Boston Monument Guide Book can be purchased at Old North Church Gift Shop, Faneul Hall Gift Shop, Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble Book Stores.

Boston Baseball Monuments and Statues 2013

The 2013 baseball season is upon us, and with this sport Boston's Public Art and artists have created memorable athletic individuals and positive roll models for us all.

Two monuments celebrating "Ted Williams "by Franc Talarico and "Teammates" by Antonio Tobias Mendez are both artist and tell us about the meaning of American baseball.

Williams was a two-time American League Most Valuable Player (MVP) winner, led the league in batting six times, and also was a Triple Crown winner. A nineteen-time All Star, he had a career batting average of .344, with 521 home runs and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966.

Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30,1918 – July 5, 2002), was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox (1939-1942 and 1946-1960).

Williams was the last player in Major League Baseball to bat over .400 in a single season (.406 in 1941). Williams holds the highest career batting average of anyone

with 500 or more home runs. His career year was 1941, when he hit .406 with 37 HR, 120 RBI, and 135 runs scored. His .551 on base percentage set a record that stood for 61 years. Nicknamed “The Kid”, “The Splendid Splinter”, “Teddy Ballgame”, and “The Thumper” because of his hitting prowess, Williams’ career was twice interrupted by military service as a Marine Corps pilot. An avid sports fisherman, he hosted a television show about fishing and was inducted into the IGA Fishing Hall of Fame.

Ted Williams was one of the greatest hitters who ever lived, an American patriot, and a pioneer in the development of the Jimmy Fund. Ted will forever be one of the great heroes in the history of baseball, Boston, and America. He amassed 521 home runs despite sacrificing five years in his prime to serve his country during World War II and the Korean War. He was a relentless champion of children, such as this child to whom he is offering his cap, in their battles against cancer, and helped make the Jimmy Fund at the Dana Farber Cancer Center Institute the world renowned center of research it is today.

"Ted Williams"Monument outside of Fenway Park

"The memory of Ted Williams will forever be a point of pride for the Boston Red Sox, the people of Boston, New England, and the United States of America. Dedicated this 16th day of April, 2004."

(Taken from the Bronze)

"Teammates"

"The Red Sox fans the world over, they are simply known as Bobby, Ted, Dom and Johnny."

(Taken from the Bronze)

These are our Red Sox Hall of Famers. Williams, Pesky, Doerr and DiMaggio have a permanent home at Fenway Park. Watching Ted Williams on TV hit home runs out of Fenway Park was a Sunday ritual for my father and I, as for many of us in Boston.

"Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us"by Joe Gallo is a guidebook mapping and story telling of Boston's Monuments and Statues dotting our parks and streets of the City of Boston.





The new Immigration Armenian Genocide Monument just completed.

The true story behind the this monument.

Most people think the Armenian Genocide was purely about Turks killing Armenians. However, a prime motivator for the killing of 1.5 million Armenians living in Turkey was greed and the redistribution of wealth. The Ottoman Turkish rulers wanted to take possession of the property belonging to its wealthy Armenian minority. They succeeded.

Throughout the deportation, eyewitness testimonies repeat stories of Turkish officials seeking bribes in the form of gold coins, rugs, jewelry, and so on.

Talaat Pasha (one of the architects of the Armenian Genocide) had the audacity to ask the American Ambassador Henry Morgenthau for the life insurance policies of his victims, because he reasoned the Turkish Government had become the beneficiary of the policies since his victims left no heirs.

Contrary to common belief, not all killings were perpetrated by chetes (criminal gangs) and Turkish soldiers. Townsfolk throughout Anatolia were promised the homes and belongings of their Armenian neighbors. After they were taught to hate the Armenians for being giavurs or gavoors, which means ’infidels’ or ‘non-believers’, it was frighteningly easy to whip the people into frenzied kitchen-knife welding mobs capable of murdering their neighbors.

The Turkish government enabled and encouraged the mass looting that took place everywhere the Armenians had once lived. In many instances, Turkey’s governing leaders relocated Kurds and Muslim peoples from the Balkans and other areas to depopulated Armenian communities (immediately following their mass killing and deportation). The Ottoman Turks’ destruction of its Armenian Christian minority created an ‘instant’ Muslim middle class.

Ottoman government archives containing records of land deeds are not accessible to descendants of the Armenian Turkish citizens who were either killed or expelled from their land. One of the obstacles to Turkey’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide is its fear of reparations.

Many of the Armenian churches not destroyed by the Turks were converted to Mosques. Some Armenian churches (including the sacred Aktamar site) are profitable enterprises employed by Turkey as part of its thriving tourism industry.

Even Mount Ararat, the ancestral homeland and pride of the Armenian people, now lies within Turkey’s borders. A few weeks ago, a Turkish tourism advertisement prominently featuring Mount Ararat with a depiction of Noah’s Ark. Of course, there was no mention of the Armenians, believed to be the descendants of Noah’s son, Japheth.

This beautiful well designed memorial incorporating , landscape design with greenery,a sculpture and a working water fountain is now a Boston treasure.

"Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us" would be honored to include this meaningful monument for all people within our second edition soon to be printed.