Step Inside Cleveland’s Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument

The Goddess of Freedom stands atop the 125-foot-tall obelisk on Cleveland’s Public Square. Vignettes of soldiers in battle are positioned atop the memorial’s base, while the names of Cuyahoga County’s 9,000 Civil War veterans are inscribed on the walls inside. 

The idea for Cleveland’s Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument came in the late 1800s, as Cuyahoga County’s Civil War veterans were searching for a way to honor those who served. At the time, city leaders wanted to preserve Public Square for business and commerce. Greg Palumbo, executive director of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, says some city officials created obstacles intended to prevent construction of the monument, which was dedicated on July 4, 1894. 

“[Public Square] was an important place for these guys.” Palumbo says of the returning soldiers. “They wanted to really push their idea that war is not the answer. They wanted to memorialize that in a very public space.”

Architect Levi T. Scofield was selected to construct the monument. As a veteran of the Civil War himself, Scofield put his own personal touches into the design, modeling some of the infantry members depicted after those of his former unit.

Within the tablet room at the base of the obelisk, visitors encounter bronze reliefs that depict local, state and national perspectives of the war. Women of the Soldiers’ Aid Society and Sanitary Commission face the south, while statesmen involved in recruitment are located on the west side. Abraham Lincoln is depicted meeting with his generals on the east side and again at the north entrance, arming a Black man with a rifle to defend his freedom

Year-round programming carries on the monument’s legacy. Caretakers staff it seven days a week, with special ceremonies on Memorial Day, Veterans Day and 9/11.

“History doesn’t necessarily repeat itself, but it does rhyme,” Palumbo says. “The gravity of war, the intentionality of it and the importance of honoring those that serve — that message flows through time.”

3 Public Square, Cleveland 44114, 216/443-6878, soldiersandsailors.com

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