Throughout the course of the American Civil War over 200,000 African American soldiers and sailors served to keep the United States whole and to free permanently over four million people in forced servitude.  The African American Civil War Memorial honors the service and sacrifices of those individuals who played their part in helping their people and their country.

On September 22, 1862, five days after the Battle of Antietam, President Lincoln announced that he would issue a formal emancipation of all slaves in any of the Confederate States that did not return to Union control by January 1, 1863. No states rejoined the Union, so Lincoln implemented the Proclamation by establishing a "Bureau of Colored Troops" to facilitate the recruitment of African-American soldiers to fight for the Union Army.

The United States Colored Troops (USCT) were regiments of the Army during the Civil War that were composed of over 200,000 soldiers. First recruited in 1863, the men of the 175 regiments of the USCT constituted approximately one-tenth of the Union Army. These men and their officers are remembered here as Freedom Fighters who won in the struggle for their own liberation.

The United States Air Force Memorial honors the service and sacrifices of the men and women of the United States Air Force and its predecessor organizations, including the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps; the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps; the Division of Military Aeronautics, Secretary of War; the Army Air Service; the U.S. Army Air Corps; and the U.S. Army Air Forces. More than 54,000 Airmen have died in combat while serving in the Air Force and these historical service arms of the military. Located on a promontory in Arlington, Virginia, overlooking the Pentagon and adjacent to Arlington Cemetery, the Air Force Memorial is easily seen on the skyline of Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia in Arlington county.

The Albert Einstein Memorial is a tribute to the great scientist, philosopher and humanist. The Albert Einstein Memorial is a monumental bronze statue depicting Albert Einstein seated with manuscript papers in hand by sculptor Robert Berks. It is located in central Washington, D.C., United States, in a grove of trees at the southwest corner of the grounds of the National Academy of Sciences at 2101 Constitution Avenue N.W., near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

The memorial, situated in an elm and holly grove in the southwest corner of the grounds of the National Academy of Sciences, was unveiled at the Academy's annual meeting, April 22, 1979, in honor of the centennial of Einstein's birth. At the dedication ceremony, physicist John Archibald Wheeler eulogized the statue as "a monument to the man who united space and time into space-time...a remembrance of the man who taught us...that the universe does not go on from everlasting to everlasting, but begins with a bang."

The statue depicts Einstein seated in casual repose on a three-step bench of Mount Airy (North Carolina) white granite. The bronze figure weighs approximately 4 tons and is 12 feet in height. The monument is supported by three caissons, totaling 135 tons, sunk in bedrock to a depth of 23 to 25 feet., It was cast at Modern Art Foundry, Astoria Queens, NY.

The sculptor, Robert Berks, known for his portrait busts and statues (John F. Kennedy at the Kennedy Center; Mary McLeod Bethune in Lincoln Park, Washington, D.C.), based the work on a bust of Einstein he sculpted from life in 1953 at Einstein's Princeton home. Landscape architect James A. Van Sweden designed the monument landscaping.

Einstein was elected a foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences in 1922, the year after he won the Nobel Prize in physics, and became a member of the Academy in 1942, two years after he became a naturalized American citizen.

23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing after twelve hours of savage combat on September 17, 1862. The Battle of Antietam ended the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's first invasion into the North and led to Abraham Lincoln's issuance of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

Antietam National Battlefield is a National Park Service protected area along Antietam Creek in Sharpsburg, Washington County, northwestern Maryland. It commemorates the American Civil War Battle of Antietam that occurred on September 17, 1862.

The area, situated on fields among the Appalachian foothills near the Potomac River, features the battlefield site and visitor center, a national military cemetery, stone arch Burnside's Bridge, and a field hospital museum. Today, over 330,000 people visit the park each year.

Arlington House is located within the grounds of the Arlington National Cemetery Welcome to Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial! The residence of Robert E. Lee and his family before the Civil War, Arlington House has a unique and interesting story, with connections to many important figures, issues and events in American History. Built by George Washington Parke Custis and his slaves between 1802 and 1818, the house and grounds have served many purposes over the last two hundred years: a family home for the Lees and Custises, a plantation estate and home to 63 slaves, a monument honoring George Washington, a military headquarters, a community for emancipated slaves and a national cemetery.

Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial is located in Arlington National Cemetery. This grand memorial sits in the middle of what was once an 1,100 acre plantation, owned by George Washington Parke Custis. His only surviving child, Mary Anna Randolph Custis, married Robert E. Lee in 1831. Arlington was the home of the Lee family for nearly thirty years, prior to the Civil War.

Be prepared to spend some time touring the house, walking through the flower garden and visiting the Robert E. Lee Museum and the slave quarters.

About Arlington National Cemetery is a must see if coming to the Washington DC area.

The Washington DC Black History NRT was originally created as an Eagle Scout project. The trail uses city streets and is maintained by the District of Columbia City Government and the National Park Service. The trail stretches from Southeast to Northwest going through every major neighborhood in the city. The trail is used as a tourist vehicle to get tourists of the Mall and in to the District of Columbia. It is the first trail to highlight the achievements of African-Americans to American history and is the only African-American theme trail recognized by the federal government.

For a free brochure, write Washington, DC Black History Recreation Trail, National Park Service, National Capitol Region, Office of Public Affairs, 1100 Ohio Drive SW, Washington, DC 20242 or call (202) 619-7222.

184.5 Miles of Adventure!

The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park located in the District of Columbia and the states of Maryland and West Virginia. The park was established as a National Monument in 1961 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in order to preserve the neglected remains of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal along the Potomac River along with many of the original canal structures. The canal and towpath trail extends from Georgetown, Washington, D.C. to Cumberland, Maryland, a distance of 184.5 miles (296.9 km), and was designated as the first section of U.S. Bicycle Route 50 on October 23, 2013.

Preserving America's early transportation history, the C&O Canal began as a dream of passage to Western wealth. Operating for nearly 100 years the canal was a lifeline for communities along the Potomac River as coal, lumber and agricultural products floated down the waterway to market. Today it endures as a pathway for discovering historical, natural and recreational treasures!

The Corcoran Gallery of Art is one of the oldest privately supported cultural institutions in Washington, DC. The museum's main focus is American art. The permanent collection includes works by Rembrandt Peale, Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, Thomas Gainsborough, John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Edward Hopper, Willem de Kooning, Joan Mitchell, Gene Davis, and many others. Founded in 1869 by William Wilson Corcoran, the Corcoran was the oldest and largest non-federal art museum in the District of Columbia. Its mission is "dedicated to art and used solely for the purpose of encouraging the American genius."

The DEA Museum & Visitors Center is committed to educating the American public on the history of the Drug Enforcement Administration and on the impact of drug addiction from past to present.