African-American Civil War Memorial

Heroes From the Civil War

Description

In a long overdue memorial to the African-American soldiers who served for the Union during the Civil War, this memorial was presented to the public in 1998 and contains 209,145 names honored on brushed stainless steel plaques surrounding a central Spirit of Freedom sculpture depicting members of different regiments preparing to leave home. The memorial is a powerful reminder of the sacrifice and struggle that African-American soldiers undertook to fight for their freedom. The memorial includes the 7,000 white officers that commanded the regiments of the United States Colored Troops (USCT). The memorial can be found in the Shaw neighborhood, who is named after the same white colonel Robert Gould Shaw, who is depicted in the epic war film Glory. The memorial is presented in a granite plaza in a semi-circle, and a nearby museum provides further research and information about the lives of the men who served.