This monumental hovering figure of "Victory" was cast from the fourth version of Augustus Saint-Gaudens's memorial to Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, commander of the Massachusetts Fifty-fourth—the first black regiment raised in the North and best remembered for its assault on Fort Wagner, North Carolina, in 1863.
On dedication day of the original in Boston in 1897, Booker T. Washington proclaimed that "the full measure of the fruit of Fort Wagner and all that this monument stands for will not be realized until every man covered with a black skin shall by patient and natural effort, grow to that height of industry, property, intelligence and moral responsibility, where no man in all our land will be tempted to degrade himself by withholding from his black brother any opportunity which he himself would possess. Until that time comes, the monument will stand for effort, not victory complete."
Catalogue Description:
High relief sculpture with female allegorical figure floating in horizontal position, face in 3/4 profile with eyes closed, proper left arm outstretched, she wears heavy robes and hood, holds branch of laurel leaves and posies in right arm.
Condition: Good.
