Politics and Memory

Following the Civil War, New York City built more monuments to the Union cause supported by public funds than any other city—Brooklyn Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument outside Prospect Park, the New York Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument in Riverside Park, and more throughout today’s five boroughs. From simple standing soldiers to grand triumphal arches and temples, these monuments incited political and artistic conflict that shaped the nation’s tradition of commemorative iconography. Join author and professor Akela Reason as she illuminates the complex intersection of art, politics, and memory within these works while highlighting the ever-changing ways different constituencies have engaged with them.

Akela Reason is a scholar of American visual and materials culture at the University of Georgia. Her latest book is titled Politics and Memory: Civil War Monuments in Gilded Age New York (Yale University Press, 2025).