WAKEFIELD — Tomorrow the town will rededicate the 1902 Soldiers and Sailors Monument on the Veterans Memorial Common.
An early afternoon slate of activities is planned, beginning at 12 noon, on and near the Common. People can visit the Hartshorne House on Church Street and Prospect Street’s Wakefield History Museum; they can engage with Civil War living history camps on the Lower Common; they can view student research and historical videos in the First Baptist Church; join the African American Heritage Walking Tour, led by resident historians; browse the Civil War collection and display at Beebe Library, and much more.
At 3 p.m. all will gather on the Veterans Memorial (Upper) Common for a formal ceremony that includes residents, students and musical performances. The participants include the Providence Brigade Band; Wakefield Scouts, who will present a time capsule; Wakefield Memorial High School musicians; Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Navy Commander Shelby Nikitin, and many more.
Former Town Councilor Bob Vincent and Town Administrator Stephen Maio are in charge of coordinating the “Soldiers and Sailors Memorial (SSM), a Re-Dedication Ceremony.” The monument was erected in 1902, and over the years, there had been some vandalism where statues were broken. Vincent spearheaded the efforts of the town to assess the damage because they wanted to find out how much it was going to cost to repair the beloved monument. Vincent noted that they got the estimate to repair the monument, which was $300,000. At the Spring 2023 Town Meeting it was voted unanimously to begin repairing the monument. The repairs started in the Summer/ Fall of 2024. They decided to hold the rededication ceremony now because the monument was dedicated in June 1902. This is the 160th anniversary of the end of the Civil War. Vincent noted that they chose May 31st because the kids get out of school in June, and they wanted to make this event citizen-centric and not politician-centric. There are a lot of students involved, as well as a plethora of reenactors.
They are recommending that the time capsule be unearthed in 2102 because that is the bicentennial of the monument which was dedicated in 1902. Vincent mentioned that if someone attends the event at age 10, 77 years from now, when the time capsule is unearthed, they could essentially participate in the next ceremony with their children and grandchildren, and they will be able to remind them how they were there in 2025. Vincent said the children could recall that they helped the town lead the Pledge of Allegiance or helped put the time capsule together, or even sang at the event, and that is how they would pass on that living history because they would now be the focal point of five generations.
Vincent said they have a lot of reenactors. They will be reading the biography of Harriet Newell Flint, the woman who bequeathed the money, at the actual ceremony. Between 12 and 2:30 p.m., people will be able to interact and walk around the common area where there will be tents. Cannons will be fired off at noon and then at 2:30 pm and 2:45 p.m., the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War will lead a parade from the lakeside ceremony over to the monument. The Providence Brigade Band will be performing in the Bandstand around noon, but then will move over to the monument and will start playing there to draw people’s attention. The formal rededication ceremony with begin at 3 p.m.
The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War will have a rededication ceremony where Maio as the Town Administrator will turn the monument over to them. There will then be a 20-minute ceremony where they rededicate the monument and then turn it back over to Maio, where he will accept the monument on behalf of the Town of Wakefield.