The official "peace statue" of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts graces the small Memorial Park in the center of Orange near the banks of the Millers River. The 12-foot high bronze sculpture by  Joseph Pollia of New York, which attracted national attention when it was unveiled in 1934 as a memorial to veterans of World War I, was refurbished in the 1990s.

To raise funds and garner community support for the upgrade, two separate committees were formed, one for the statue led by Sally Sennott, then chair of the Orange Cultural Council, and the other a Memorial Park committee formed by the

It Shall Not Be Again

Individuals and businesses purchased engraved bricks to memorialize loved ones and celebrate various aspects of community life. Reading the inscriptions on the bricks can be a very emotional experience as can viewing this memorable example of public art.

The statue, weighing 1,120 pounds and installed on two granite blocks, and the inscription, "It Shall Not Be Again," have attracted peace activists to the park for decades, including anti-nuclear activists in the 1970s and more recently "Women in Black," urging non-violent solutions to international conflict. The park is also a place of special significance to local war veterans.

A deeply moving program organized by Janice Lanou, director of Wheeler Memorial Library, celebrated the refurbishing project on May 25, 1998. Shortly after the rededication, the Massachusetts legislature passed a law (Chapter 2, Section 45), entitled "Peace statue of the Commonwealth," stating, "A memorial statue built in the town of Orange in recognition of  veterans who served in World War I and designated as the Orange Peace Statue shall be the official peace statue of the Commonwealth."

At the time of the 1934 unveiling, favorable comments on the statue were made by various newspaper editorial writers and the many luminaries such as Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of then-president Franklin Roosevelt, who read about it in the press.

In the spring of 1935, the Mount Grace Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution presented its annual medal for excellence in high school civics to Robert Elliot Babbitt, 14, an Orange High School freshman. The essay for which the award was made tells the story of the statue and offers one boy's plea for peace, a plea that is as urgent today as it was then.

The statue depicts a doughboy just returned from the war-torn fields of France. He is seated on a stump with weariness emanating from every line of his body. His shirt is open at the neck and his khaki coat is thrown across his knees. On his head he wears an overseas cap.

Beside him, dressed in clothes which would be worn by the average American schoolboy, and carrying a book, stands a typical American schoolboy of perhaps 10 years, who is partially embraced by the soldier's left arm. He appears to be listening intently to the soldier's words with fist clenched.

The doughboy may be telling him of how horrible and uncivilized war is; how futile and destructive. Maybe he speaks of fond parents, wives, sweethearts and brothers who wait in suspense for the dread news that some loved one is killed. Perhaps he speaks on the hundreds of thousands of men who were killed or horribly mutilated by explosives, bullets, gas, shells and other death-dealing machines of war.

On the base of the memorial, which is made of granite, is a bronze plaque. In the foreground is an inscription which further brings out the idea of the statue: "It Shall Not Be Again."

In the background, a shrouded form of abject grief stands. The  remaining part is studded with 11 stars. One for each man who gave his life from Orange.

On the back of the base is another inscription reading thus: "Dedicated in memory of those of Orange who served their country during the World War, 1917-1919.