Description:
Situated in front of Great Barrington's town hall, this Civil War memorial displays an 8-foot statue of the Goddess "Victory' atop a golden globe, holding both golden laurel wreath and olive branch, placed on a brownstone column. It was dedicated, in memory of the town's residents who fought for the Union cause, on 1 July, 1876. The monument's artist was noted sculptor Truman Howe Bartlett, and its design is said to have been inspired by a statue excavated from Pompeii with which Bartlett was familiar. Though there was, in 1912, a call by some locals to replace the representation of Victory with a more conventional Civil War figure, the monument was defended by local resident and Medal of Honor recipient Frederick N. Deland, and was ultimately preserved.
