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.