WAKEFIELD — Throughout 2024, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on the Upper Common experienced a complete restoration including extensive repair and reconstruction. On May 31, the Town hosted Rededication Day to celebrate the 123-year-old piece of Wakefield history. During the afternoon ceremony, members of Scout Troop 701 presented a time capsule that was to be buried at the monument site. The capsule’s contents were curated by the Scouts, former Town Councilor Robert Vincent II and former Town Administrator Steve Maio.
Last week, Town Councilor Stacey Constas and School Committee member Stephen Ingalls joined Vincent and Maio to bury the capsule. Vincent and Maio served as co-chairs for the Rededication Day Event.
The capsule is set to be unearthed on June 17, 2102, the bicentennial of the original dedication and the 237th anniversary of the conclusion of the Civil War. It contains many local artifacts including copies of the Daily Item; letters from municipal leaders and committees; coins from 1865 the end of the Civil War, 1902 the year the monument was dedicated and 2025; Civic War research conducted by Wakefield Memorial High School students and local historian Nancy Bertrand, a Rededication Day pin and more.
Created by artist and Civil War Veteran Melzar Hunt Mosman, the monument was unveiled to the Town on June 17, 1902 with great fanfare. According to the Wakefield Historical Society, it “was dedicated to the memory of the men who fought and died in the Civil War, but, in the four figures naval, infantry, artillery and cavalry surrounding the column, it has come to symbolize the generations of men and women from this town who have served their country in the armed services.”