Councilor moves to honor Crispus Attucks
A new statue may be coming to Downtown Boston sooner than later, with a city councilor looking to create a monument in honor of Crispus Attucks, a sailor of African and Indigenous descent who was the first person killed during the Boston Massacre.
Yesterday marked the 254th anniversary of the moment the Revolutionary War was kickstarted, when British soldiers fired two musket balls into Attucks’ chest, killing the Framingham native. Four other men also lost their lives at the hands of the 29th Regiment.
Accounts of the Boston Massacre highlight how Attucks was at the head of the group of sailors at the time of their deaths. The documented runaway slave is said to be the first casualty of the American Revolution.
City Councilor Brian Worrell will be seeking council support today for a statue that would be a standalone honor of Attucks. The sailor is already commemorated on a “Boston Massacre Monument” on the Common along with the names of the four other men killed in the conflict.
A childcare center in Dorchester also bears Attucks’ name as the “Crispus Attucks Children’s Center.”
Worrell has filed a hearing order to look into the “process and costs associated with creating a statue in Boston.” The order states that the memorial would serve as a “symbol of our commitment to honoring diverse voices and recognizing the contributions of marginalized communities to our shared history.”
“It’s beyond time for Boston to recognize Crispus Attucks more formally,” Worrell said in a statement. “He was an accomplished sailor and advocate for human rights before he died. The world should know more of how Black Boston contributed to America’s history, and Crispus Attucks, as the first Patriot, is one of the finest examples of that.”
In the mid 1800s, abolitionist William C. Nell led an effort with prominent members of the city’s African-American community to petition the state Legislature for funds to erect a statue honoring Attucks, according to the Native Northeast Portal.
But the petition failed to pass, with the Committee on Military Affairs submitting “an adverse report asserting that Crispus Attucks was not the war’s first martyr, rather it was a young White child,” a writeup on the Portal states.
“It was difficult enough to get Attucks recognized as the pivotal figure he was destined to become recognized as — the first American to die in what would become the American Revolution,” it states.
Several decades later, however, one of original petitioners successfully presented a petition asking for $10,000 to erect the monument, with the memorial, dedicated in 1888, honoring Attucks and the four other victims — Samuel Maverick, James Caldwell, Samuel Gray and Patrick Carr.
But Worrell says the city is behind in having a memorial specifically for Attucks as New York City and Philadelphia already have statues for the sailor.
Worrell’s proposal is receiving support from Haroon A. Rashid, president of the Friends of Crispus Attucks Association. His association has been pushing for years for Attucks to gain the recognition he deserves.
“It is only fitting that in the 21st century, the era of multicultural global inclusion, that there should be erected a life-size standalone statue in the downtown location of Boston,” Rashid said in a statement, “and that citizens and tourists alike on March 5 each year should find ways to honor and commemorate Attucks’ sacrifice on Crispus Attucks Day in the City of Boston.”