West Point Class Of 1961 Gives Reconciliation Plaza
By Ed Ballam October '01 issue

WEST POINT, N.Y. - On Oct. 5, the West Point Class of 1961 will dedicate a new memorial at the United States Military Academy commemorating the reconciliation between the North and South after the 1865 surrender.

A series of explanatory laser etchings and vignettes on black granite markers will give a historical account of the reconciliation which followed the war that not only divided the nation, but divided the West Point campus as well, said Ed Brown, a member of Class of 1961 who has been working on making the memorial a reality.

"We started planning this about 10 years ago but really started working on it in earnest about six years ago," he said. Discussion of the 40th anniversary gift came up during the 30th reunion. Most class members will see their gift for the first time at the dedication.

"I think they will be very satisfied," Brown said.

The Reconciliation Plaza, as the Class of 1861 memorial is called, is part of a larger $1.5 million project that created a walking mall in the area of the clock tower in the north region of the campus, overlooking the Hudson River.

The West Point classes of 1957, 1961, 1965 and 1974 shared the cost of the walking mall project.

In addition, the Class of 1961, which has about 460 survivors from its 534 graduates, raised an additional $350,000 for the reconciliation memorial.

The memorial is dedicated to the Classes of May and June 1861 who died as a result of the Civil War and to members the Class of 1961 who died in the Vietnam War and in military accidents in time of war.

The memorial consists of 18 black granite markers, each approximately 2 feet by 4 feet and weighing some 5,000 pounds. Inscriptions appear on the single polished side.

Two replica cast iron inverted cannon muzzles serve as a symbol of peace, Brown said. They also function as posts at the opening of the walkway at the start of the pedestrian mall. The granite markers stand in a row along a wall that runs from Mahan Hall and Taylor Hall.

At mid-point are busts of Ulysses S. Grant, Class of 1843, and Robert E. Lee, Class of 1829, laser etched in granite. The way the memorial is laid out, in a straight line running north and south, Grant looks to the South and Lee looks to the North, according to Brown.

The inscriptions on the markers tell the story from 1865 through the Reconstruction years and incorporate statements made at the Appomattox surrender and in President Lincoln's inaugural address.

The memorial was designed by Vollmer Associates, a New York City architecture firm. Construction was done by SCM Corp of the Bronx. Hali Weiss, a New York City architect, created shop drawings for the project.

The granite came from Rock of Ages in Barre, Vt. Ageless Industrial Markings in Montpelier, Vt., did the etching.

The story of the divided class of 1861 has been told in two books by Mary Elizabeth Sergent: They Lie Forgotten, The United States Military Academy 1856-1861, Together with a Class Album for The Class of May 1861 and An Unremaining Glory (Being a Supplement to They Lie Forgotten), A Class Album for The Class of June 1861, Custer's Class.