VAM galleries including this work:
The Kentucky Historical Society | Kentucky Past and Present | What’s the Point? | What’s in a Name? || VAM Home

Spirit of Freedom: African-American Civil War Memorial was commissioned for a plaza at 10th and U streets in Washington, D.C. The monument is flanked by two walls inscribed with the names of 185,000 black soldiers who fought in the war. It was unveiled on July 18, 1998. This is a miniature of the original, number 4 of 100 created.

About the Artist

Ed Hamilton was born in 1947 in Cincinnati. He graduated from the Louisville Art Center School in 1969 and began working with Louisville sculptor Barney Bright in 1973. Over the next two decades, Hamilton received major commissions to create statues of Booker T. Washington and Joe Louis and established himself as one of the outstanding black sculptors in America. He was chosen in 1995 to create the official national memorial to the U.S. Colored Troops—African Americans who served in the Civil War.

To learn more about Hamilton, watch the video segment “Metal Sculpture: Ed Hamilton” on Through Artists’ Eyes: The Creative Process.

Classroom Ideas

Note: This image also relates to social studies Core Content; specifically, that political, social, economic, and cultural differences among sections of the U.S. resulted in the American Civil War.

Links

Find out more about Hamilton, his work, and the processes he uses at the artist’s web site.
[www.edhamiltonworks.com]

The African-American Civil War Memorial web site includes information about the memorial and other resources relating to African Americans and the Civil War.
[www.afroamcivilwar.org]

The following web sites have information about African Americans who served in the Civil War:

• Camp Nelson: Union Army Supply Depot
  [www.campnelson.org/colored/]
• Freedom Fighters: United States Colored Troops in the Civil War, an article on the Lest We Forget site
  [www.coax.net/people/lwf/data.htm]
• Joining the Ranks: African Americans in the Military, the catalog from an exhibit at the Kentucky Historical Society (PDF format)
  [history.ky.gov/Museums/JTR_Gallery_guide.pdf]