54th Massachusetts Regiment

Talia Shapiro Senior Division Individual Website

Choosing my Topic: I chose my topic because it is part of Massachusetts history and there is so much source material readily available locally. Throughout my 15 years living in Boston, I always enjoyed going on field trips to learn about history. Over the course of researching, I realized that I had seen Revolutionary War history, but that Boston also has a fair amount of Civil War history. I also had never learned or heard of the 54th Regiment before so it was interesting to research a new topic. Conducting my Research: I conducted my research by starting with a variety of books and database sources to get an overview of my topic. I then looked into all of the places I could visit around Massachusetts to gain more information and primary sources. My first trip was to the 54th Massachusetts Regiment memorial, where I spoke with an authentically dressed sergeant from the reenactment troop of the regiment and he gave me lots of great handouts and insights. I then went to the African-American History Museum on Beacon Hill and the African Meeting House where some recruitment for the regiment had occurred. My main trip for primary source documents was to the Massachusetts National Guard Museum and Archives in Worcester, MA. There I worked with the Adjutant General and the archivist who provided me with tons of information about the regiment and their thoughts and opinions on the regiments influence. At the museum I got to go through the original muster rolls for the regiment, letters from Governor Andrew, telegrams, notices, and official state letters. The original papers in the archive were amazing and made me excited to compile research for the project. The other trip I made was to the Massachusetts Historical Society to view their collection of original photographs of the Regiment. Most of the images on my website are from their collection and enhance the project by putting faces with the story. Creating my Project: I chose to do a website because I thought it was the best way to display my information. After conducting my research, I had so many photos of people and images of documents, that I thought the website would really engage viewers. First, I made an outline of what I wanted the organization of the website to look like. I also transcribed images of documents that I had looked at and organized the quotes and images from my trips. Relating to Turning Points: The 54th Regiment is a perfect example of a turning point in history because it was a new idea that was pushing some people out of their comfort zone. Governor Andrew was brave to bring up the idea

and the men were determined to prove themselves. The Regiment showed that blacks could be soldiers with guns in their hands, not just assisting whites behind the battlefield. The 54th led to other black regiments in the United States military. Although black regiments were a form of segregation, they did allow blacks to prove themselves as worthy members of the armed forces.