Boston Breaks Ground on $1.2 Million Black Veterans Memorial Plaza in Roxbury

BOSTON — July 22, 2026 — Boston breaks ground on $1.2 million Black veterans memorial plaza in Nubian Square. Mayor Kim Janey, Parks Commissioner Ryan Woods, Veterans Affairs Commissioner Rob Santiago, and State Representative Chyna Tyler gathered Tuesday at Justice Edward O. Gordine Veterans Memorial Park in Roxbury for the official start of construction on a memorial plaza more than a decade in the making. The $1.2 million project, funded through the Brown Fund, the Mayor's Capital Improvement Program, and a state grant, will feature a bronze statue of Justice Gordine — one of the last works by the late sculptor Fern Cunningham Terry — along with 10 bronze bas-relief panels by artist Karen Udame representing Black soldiers across 10 wars, an inscribed granite seat wall, and new pathways. Gordine was the first Black and indigenous person appointed to the Superior Court in New England, the first person to record a 25-foot long jump, the first Black Olympian to win a silver medal in the long jump, and the first Black soldier to achieve the rank of Brigadier General in Massachusetts. Bruce Bickerstaff, president of the Veterans and Friends of Gordine Park, said the group's next goal is a ribbon-cutting once construction is complete.