National Monument Honoring Black Civil War Soldiers Unveiled In Washington, D.C

Jet, August 10, 1998

"The Spirit of Freedom," the first national monument to honor and salute United States Black soldiers and their White officers who fought and died in the Civil War, was recently unveiled in Northwest Washington D.C.

The nine-foot-high, 3,000-pound bronze sculpture, the monument's centerpiece, was designed by sculptor Ed Hamilton of Louisville, KY, who also designed the Amistad Memorial.

He began work on the Civil War monument in 1993 when he won a nationwide competition.

The sculpture consists of a semicircular arc with high relief. On the exterior arc three infantrymen and a sailor are portrayed. They are working together to win a fight for family and freedom.

Above these men is the Spirit of Freedom to guide and protect them. She is personified as a woman with her eyes closed and her hands crossed over her chest. The soldiers and sailor are positioned to protect the extended family depicted on the interior of the arc. Here, the father of the family is prepared to leave his loved ones to join the fight.

Frank Smith, Jr., a D.C. council member and chairman of the African American Civil War Memorial Freedom Foundation, joined Hamilton in unveiling the statue as thousands of people, Black and White, reached out their arms and fingers to touch the shiny bronze memorial.

"I am absolutely elated!" said Council member Smith. "After all these years we finally have an official statue in the nation's capital to honor the men and women who fought to end slavery."

Paul S. Devroaux, Jr., President of the African-American Architectural team of Devroaux & Purnell, along with Edward Dunson of Edward D. Dunson Architects, developed a design plan for the memorial.

The historical monument is scheduled to be completed on Veterans Day when several walls of engraved names of more than 208,000 United States Colored Troops and sailors, and their 7,000 White officers will be added to the memorial to make it complete.

Thousands of descendants of the United States Colored Troops were in town from all over the world. They came from as far away as Germany California, Michigan, Mississippi, and Tennessee, and as near as New Jersey to witness the dedication of the $2.6 million project.

Marion Still Buck, 80, came from Moorestown, NJ, with her sister, Elizabeth Still Johnston, 78, and her brother, William Still, 70. Her family has a long line of Civil War history and they received a certificate for the participation of their relative, Jeremiah Still, in the Civil War.

"It was very educational," said Buck of the day's events. "It really brought tears to your eyes."

Crowds of the young, old and all nationalities lined the streets, listen ed to prayers, songs and speeches, waiting patiently to get a glimpse and perhaps a chance to touch the special memorial.

The monument will be placed in the once historically-elite Shaw neighborhood section of Northwest Washington, D.C., at the future site of the newly constructed U Street Metro line.