Step On Up (or Down)!

From You Know Who:

It's a funny thing to have a set of quarried-stone steps named in your honor. Sure, it means you were important - not just every guy or gal gets a memorial staircase. But it also means people are walking all over you and your reputation. These are the Guild Steps, which connect Beacon Street to the Boston Common at the intersection of Joy Street.

"BUILT TO COMMEMORATE A LIFE OF SERVICE TO COMMONWEALTH," the steps say. So who is the person so honored?

Curtis Guild, Jr. was born in Boston in 1860 to an old Yankee family, with roots on one side to the founding of nearby Dedham, Mass., in 1636, and on the other to before the Revolutionary War. Guild was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, as well as to the governorship. Additionally, he served as ambassador to Russia. After that role ended in 1913, he assumed leadership of the Commercial Bulletin newspaper that his father had founded. Guild died in 1915. He was married but had no children.

In addition to the steps and the plaque (in photo below), Guild was honored with a memorial tablet, paid for by private subscription, that was installed in the Massachusetts State House in 1916, per Wikipedia. Additionally, the Curtis Guild Elementary School in East Boston is named for the former governor, and the Massachusetts National Guard Base Camp Curtis Guild is named in his memory, Wikipedia tells us.

On the opposite pillar as this one with Guild's likeness is this memorial:

This is the coat of arms of the State of Massachusetts. The quote translates to "she seeks with the sword a quiet peace under liberty," per Wikipedia. Often, the phrase is loosely translated into English as "By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty," says Wikipedia. The Native American pictured on the coat of arms is an Algonquin. The fact that his arrow is pointed down signifies that he comes in peace.

Yes, that's a muscular arm brandishing a sword above the native's head. As you can imagine, this image is controversial. I'd never seen the coat of arms and the state flag that features the same image before researching this post. I don't find it shocking that the seal portrays the dominance by Europeans of Native Americas. After all, the state seal has featured some version of this image off and on since the early 17th century. But I do think the state should adopt a new, more inclusive image.