The ride to this national memorial is an annual event sponsored by the Maryland chapter. The memorial includes the Spirit of Freedom sculpture which stands ten feet tall and features uniformed black soldiers and a sailor poised to leave home, surrounded by the Wall of Freedom, inscribed with the names of every black man that served in the Civil War. It is a bronze statue commemorating the 209,145 black Union soldiers that fought for freedom. Designed by Ed Hamilton of Louisville, Kentucky, this is the first major art piece by a black sculptor to be placed on federal land anywhere in the District of Columbia.