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Atkinson, Edward (1827-1905) to the committee on the Shaw monument

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02928.04 Author/Creator: Atkinson, Edward (1827-1905) Place Written: Boston, Massachusetts Type: Typed letter signed Date: 4 June 1897 Pagination: 2 p. : docket ; 28 x 21.7 cm. Order a Copy

Atkinson, treasurer of the Robert Gould Shaw monument committee, informs other members of the committee that he intends to depart for London, England, and St. Petersburg, Russia. States that he hopes to finish matters concerning the monument before his departure. Reports that he paid sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens a total of $22,000 for completion of the monument, and that $550 remains in the committee trust for general expenses. Requests the committee's opinion regarding the style and number of copies of the monument's final report, and whether or not the report should contain a photo of Shaw or the monument. Suggests that at least 1,000 copies of the report should be printed, that some copies should be sent to certain individuals free of charge, that the report should be in pamphlet form and should be printed by Norwood Press. Adds that Harvard Professor William James should choose the style, type, and paper for the report, and that Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson's record of the services of African American troops should be included in the publication.

Colonel Higginson was a militant abolitionist from Massachusetts. He commanded an African American regiment during the Civil War, and wrote the book "Army Life in a Black Regiment" (published in 1869) based on his experiences. William James was a prominent professor of psychology and philosophy at Harvard University.

Atkinson, Edward, 1827-1905
Higginson, Thomas Wentworth, 1823-1911
James, William, 1842-1910
Saint-Gaudens, Augustus, 1848-1907

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