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Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
FORM C − OBJECT
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Photograph
Topographic or Assessor's Map
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
49/4 Boston
North
AC,
AH,
B
926
Town: Lexington
Place (neighborhood or village): Lexington Green
Address or Location: Bedford Street
Name: Lexington Minute Men of 1775 Memorial
Ownership: __x__ Public ____ Private
Type of Object (check one):
___ statue
___ bust
___ group composition
___ religious shrine
_x__ monument
___ milestone
___ marker
___ boundary marker
___other (specify)
Date of Construction: 1948
Source: Hinkle & Cleghorn, p. 19
Designer/Sculptor: Bashka Paeff
Materials: granite, bronze
Alterations (with dates): none
Condition: good
Moved: _x_ no ___ yes Date
Acreage: NA
Setting: lawn in front of Buckman Tavern
Recorded by: Lisa Mausolf
Organization: Lexington Historical Commission
Date (month / year): Oct. 2009
INVENTORY FORM C CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON BEDFORD STREET
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
B 926
___ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
If checked, you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.
DESIGN ASSESSMENT
Describe the design features of the object and evaluate in terms of other similar types of objects within the community.
Roughly oval bronze relief measuring approximately 3’ x 6’ x 1’ depicting six Minute Men in the heat of battle at the Battle of
Lexington. Five are shown firing their rifles in various positions – crouching, kneeling and standing. The sixth soldier appears to
be wounded; he is slumped over and seated on the ground. The sculpture has a granite back and is set on a set of three low
granite steps resting on a granite base.
The monument is surrounded by a simple iron fence.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE
Explain the history of the object and how it relates to the development of the community.
This bas relief was the work of sculptress Baskhka Paeff. Roessler & Sons of Woburn was the founder. The sculpture was
unveiled on April 19, 1949 by Nancy Harrington, a lineal descendant of an original Lexington militiaman. Also present was the
sculptress.
Bashka Paeff (1874-1979) was an American sculptor active in the Boston area. She was born in Minsk, Russia but immigrated
to the United States as an infant. In 1914 she attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts where she studied with Bela
Pratt. She later worked at the MacDowell Colony. Among her other works is the Maine Sailors and Soldiers Memorial on Route
1 crossing from Portsmouth, New Hampshire into Kittery, Maine; a fountain sculpture of a small boy with bird at the Boston
Public Garden (Arlington Street entrance), and a bas relief of Ellen Swallow Richards at MIT.
ENTIRE INSCRIPTION (if applicable):
Front:
THESE MEN GAVE EVERYTHING DEAR IN LIFE YEA AND LIFE ITSELF IN SUPPORT OF THE COMMON CAUSE
MEMORIAL TO THE LEXINGTON MINUTE MEN OF 1775
Back:
MEMORIAL
TO THE LEXINGTON MINUTE MEN WHO WERE
ON THE GREEN IN THE EARLY MORNING ENGAGEMENT
APRIL 19, 1775
(Names of 12 officers and 68 men)
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES:
Hinkle, Alice and Andrea Cleghorn. Life in Lexington: 1946-1995. Lexington: 1996, p. 19.
Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS). http://siris-artinventories.si.edu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bashka_Paeff