African American Civil War Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The African American Civil War Memorial in Washington, D.C. is at the corner of Vermont Avenue, 10th Street, and U Street NW in the Shaw neighborhood. The neighborhood is named in honor of Robert Gould Shaw, the commander of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the first Black regiments in the Civil War. The sculpture is called the Spirit of Freedom by Louisville artist Ed Hamilton. African American Civil War Memorial Freedom Foundation Inc. was the non-profit that commissioned the memorial. It was unveiled in 1998, and is the first national memorial to Black soldiers from the Civil War. The National Park Service currently administers it.

The Spirit of Freedom honors the 209,145 black soldiers and sailors and the 7,800 white officers who led them. While the United States Navy accepted Black recruits from the start of the war, the Army did not. There were Blacks who served in otherwise all-white units as early as 1861, but they did so without official sanction. It was only in 1862 that some African Americans could join Union regiments in New Orleans and South Carolina. With the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, President Lincoln called for Black men to refrain from irregular violence, but invited them to join the United States military. Here are his words:

 “I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.

And I further declare and make known, that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.”

There is an interpretive plaque at the entrance to the site.

According to the HMDB the plaque says:

According to the National Park Service:

“Ed Hamilton’s sculpture ‘Spirit of Freedom’ depicts three infantrymen and a sailor defending freedom. Above them is the face of the Spirit of Freedom watching over like an angel with her arms crossed. The other side of the statue shows a scene of a soldier with his family. Inscribed on the sculpture base: ‘Civil War to Civil rights and Beyond. This Memorial is dedicated to those who served in African American units of the Union Army in the Civil War. The 209,145 names inscribed on these walls commemorate those fighters of freedom.'”

While African Americans made up ten percent of the United States Army during the Civil War, as well as twenty percent of the Navy, Blacks rarely got any mention at Civil War battlefields and museums for the first 125 years after Appomattox. This monument helped start the movement to raise the awareness of Black troops.

The opposite side of the memorial shows a soldier taking leave of his family. His spouse, an infant daughter, small children, his father and mother will suffer tragedy or be freed by his service.

During the Civil War, more than 200,000 Black men fought to free four million slaves. Those four million included infants, children, wives, and the elderly who were benefitted by the United States Colored Troops but who also suffered long separations from their sons in the army.

The memorial shows a sailor guiding the ship through the perilous waters during the war. Typically, in other monuments, where a sailor is shown they are looking through field glasses. Here, the sailor is engaged in active work.

The sculptor Ed Hamilton has created public memorials to Blacks connected to United States history including a sculpture of Booker T. Washington. He also created a memorial to the slaves who revolted on the slave trading ship La Amistad outside of New Haven’s City Hall. Louisville, Kentucky has an Abraham Lincoln statue sculpted by Hamilton as well.

Dr. Frank Smith was an important spokesperson for the building of the monument. He was the Founder and Executive Director of the African American Civil War Museum. The monument is erected right across the street from the site of the museum. Smith was a student activist in the anti-segregation Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee (SNCC). He went to Mississippi in 1962 to work with the local African American community for one summer while he was a student at Moorehouse College. When threats against the local Black community became so intense, he decided to stay in Mississippi for the next six years to break down segregation. He also worked with Black Mississippi workers to unionize and strike for higher wages.

Smith saw his work to preserve the history of African Americans as a way of empowering his people. Before the 1960s, most public schools did not give any history of the African American community. Smith helped to change that.

The soldiers are actively advancing.

Each is on the lookout for Confederate soldiers. While they have their own safety in their minds, they also rely on each other for group cohesion.

The base of the monument is just a few feet high. It says:

“This memorial is dedicated to those who served in the African American units of the Union Army in the Civil War. The 209,145 names inscribed on these walls commemorate those fighters of freedom.”

Behind the monument you can see semi-circular walls with the names of African American soldiers who served in the United States military during the Civil War. The names are organized by the units they served in. The names come from the National Archives and from the Mormon Church’s genealogical records.

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