Description:
I found this monument behind the station, in the Southwest Corridor Park. Peter Rodman's short story, I Know My Robe Gonna Fit Me Well, is engraved into three tall slabs of dark granite. Although I arrived there in good light conditions (the sun slants favorably onto the text around 4:00 pm), the words are rather small, and could be difficult to make out at other times of day. Aside from a couple small pieces of graffiti, the monument is still in excellent shape.
About the Author:
Peter Rodman holds a bachelor's degree in English from Hamilton College, as well as a master's degree in Writing from Columbia University. He submitted his short story to the Boston Contemporary Writers' Project in 1977, and when his piece was selected, he jokingly expressed a hope that Orange Line passengers might miss their train in order to read the entire thing! He currently resides in Brockton, Massachusetts, and teaches writing classes at Massasoit Community College.
Response:
I Know My Robe Gonna Fit Me Well is the title of a gospel song. It is also the title of Peter Rodman's short story, selected by UrbanArts in 1987 to be displayed at the Massachusetts Avenue T stop. Rodman's piece, which covers three slabs of granite just outside the station, uses the song to frame the development of the main character. The lyrics appear twice in the story, and the song's theme "joy at the promise of heaven, even after seeing the gates of hell" mirrors the narrator's transformation from bitterness to contentment, and is integral to the message of the story.
The titular hymn has its roots in black folk music, and so Peter Rodman's piece may have been selected for its resonance with the many African American residents in the neighborhood around Mass Ave Station, which lies on the border between Roxbury and the South End. This community connection is further established by the story's setting: the narrator mentions Massachusetts and Shawmut Avenues, so it is clear that the plot is meant to take place within blocks of the monument itself.
I think it's important to interpret this story within the historic context of the Southwest Corridor, where residents protested against the destructive extension of Interstate 95 in the early 1970s. Just as those citizens reacted against forces that threatened to ignore their voices, Rodman's narrator comes up against his employer, an affluent man who is demolishing a house for remodeling, and who treats the narrator with disrespect. The tension between these two characters results in a minor confrontation. However, by the end of the story, the narrator has matured and regrets his anger.
It is interesting that UrbanArts chose this short story, because its moral (that "all battles, except battles of the spirit, are dubious,") seems at odds with the spirit of protest that sparked this public art initiative. Citizens of the Southwest Corridor battled a destructive project for years, and their efforts finally succeeded in 1975 when Governor Michael Dukakis cancelled the highway extension. Rodman's story encourages peace and acceptance, but I think its placement on a monument in the Southwest Corridor creates a striking conflict of context; any passerby who considers the history of the Orange Line and its public art initiative might disagree with the story's conclusion. Some battles are necessary, and acceptance is not always an option when the rights of a community are compromised.
By Jacey Fortin.
