The African American Civil War Memorial, at the corner of Vermont Avenue and U Street NW in Washington, D.C., commemorates the service of 209,145 African-American soldiers and sailors who fought for the Union in the American Civil War. The sculpture The Spirit of Freedom, by Ed Hamilton of Louisville, Kentucky, was commissioned by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and completed in 1997. The memorial includes panels with the names of those who served in the war.
Photo Credit: Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress
The associated museum, located two blocks west of the memorial in the historic and traditionally African-American U Street neighborhood, opened to the public in January 1999. Its mission is to enable visitors, researchers, and descendants of the United States Colored Troops to better understand the story of these troops. To this end, it displays photographs, newspaper articles, and replicas of period clothing, and uniforms and weaponry of the Civil War. The African American Civil War Memorial Freedom Foundation Registry documents the family trees of more than 2,000 descendants of those who have served with USCT and invites descendants to register. Visitors can search for relatives who have registered in the Descendants Registry.
African American Civil War Memorial & Museum
1925 Vermont Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-667-2667
Website: www.afroamcivilwar.org
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Twitter: @afroamcivilwar
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