Plaque in Square Honors Hardhat Killed by Crane

A monument dedicated to a construction worker who was killed in an accident during the seven-year-long construction of the Harvard Square T stop was unveiled Sunday in a ceremony near Johnson Gate.

The late John "Muggsie" Kelly, the 59-year old general superintendant of the Perini Corporation, died on May 18, 1982, when a crane fell over and crushed the foreman while he was standing at the edge of a tunnel excavation.

Officials at Perini Corporation said they waited to dedicate the monument until the Red Line was completed, so the monument could be placed at the finished opening of the tunnel he worked on.

With a twenty-one-gun salute and a military band playing Taps, Kelly's wife, Anna, unveiled the engraved plaque, donated by the Perini Corporation, Harvard, the city and the Harvard Square Business Men's Association. Crowds gathered in Harvard Square, to pay respect to Kelly.

Mayor Francis H. Duehay '55 and a representative of Gov. Michael S. Dukakis presented Mrs. Kelly with a bouquet of flowers and an engraved copy of the City Council resolution requesting the plaque.