Bronze Plaques AWOL: Senator Walsh's Forgotten Tribute

Cast in 1954, a statue of the Irish-American senator David I. Walsh stands on Boston's Charles River Esplanade. The work of Joseph Coletti, the statue measures around 8 feet in height, 3 feet in width, and 3 feet in depth. It rests on a square granite base connected to a curved granite wall. The Latin inscription above the statue reads, 'Not for himself, but for his country.' Originally, the front of its base held a bronze relief plaque of an eagle but, in 1997, during the Smithsonian Institution's 'Save Outdoor Sculpture!' program, it was absent. Moreover, two out of three bronze plaques on the back of the curved granite wall were also missing in 1997, according to the data gathered then, with the seals of Massachusetts and the U.S. Naval Affairs Committee emblems absent.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons