05/25/2026
This , we honor the courage and sacrifice of the over 200,000 African American soldiers and sailors who served in the Civil War. Nearly 40,000 of whom gave their lives.
The bust you see here is part of our permanent collection. It is a copy of one of the central figures from Ed Hamilton's monumental 1998 bronze sculpture, Spirit of Freedom, installed in the Shaw Neighborhood of Washington, D.C., near Howard University. It was the first national monument dedicated to Black Civil War soldiers.
In the full sculpture, Hamilton depicts three African American infantrymen and one sailor. The soldiers grasping their rifled muskets, the sailor holding a ship's wheel. Overlooking them is the Spirit of Freedom herself: a shrouded, angelic figure, face tilted upward, hands crossed over her chest. On the monument's back, in bas-relief, a soldier is surrounded by his multigenerational family as he prepares to go off to war. Swipe to see the full 360 degree view. Lastly pictured is artist Ed Hamilton at the Speed in 2019 standing near the bust.
Ed Hamilton, Untitled, 2000, Bronze and limestone, Gift of Dr and Mrs. S Pearson Aurebach, 2000.17
