Bunker Hill Monument 1875 - 1900

This photograph of the Bunker Hill Monument was taken by Allen in the late 19th or early 20th century. It presents a stoic depiction of the monument, an obelisk erected to commemorate the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775, an early clash in the American Revolutionary War. It's impossible to ignore the monument’s phallic form, which rises assertively, symbolizing power, patriotism, and sacrifice, yet also imbued with a sense of loss. How do we reconcile the monument to the fallen with the knowledge that the pursuit of liberty was often at the expense of others, particularly enslaved Africans and indigenous people? The monument stands not only as a commemoration of the past, but as a persistent reminder of the complexities and contradictions inherent in the pursuit of freedom and nationhood. It asks us to consider whose stories are told, whose sacrifices are honored, and whose perspectives are included in the grand narrative of national identity.