Brooklyn’s Revolutionary War shrine could become national monument
House passes bill to seek change of status for Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument
A 149-foot-high shrine to American Revolutionary War POWs that stands majestically over Fort Greene Park could be on its way to becoming a national monument to be maintained by the U.S. Department of the Interior if a bill approved by the House on April 28 is passed by the senate and signed into law by President Obama.
The House passed the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument Preservation Act, a bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D- Brooklyn-Queens), via a voice vote on Monday. The legislation directs the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to study the feasibility of designating the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument as a national monument.
The monument, consisting of a 100-foot-wide granite staircase and a central Doric column 149 feet in height, houses the remains of some 11,500 Revolutionary War soldiers who were kept as prisoners of war by the British. Because there was limited prison space on land, the British maintained approximately 16 prison ships in New York Harbor to hold the POWs. The prisoners were housed under inhumane conditions. Many died as a result of starvation, disease and lack of medical attention, Jeffries said. The patriots who lost their lives on the ships represented all 13 colonies and more than a dozen countries.