VACALEXA-L Archives

From: Timothy J Dennee <>
Subject: [VACALEXA] Alexandria Freedmen's Cemetery historic marker dedication
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 19:08:57 -0400

THE FRIENDS OF THE FREEDMEN'S CEMETERY

cordially invite you to the unveiling and dedication of a new Virginia
Department of Historic Resources historic highway marker commemorating
the site of Alexandria's 1864-1869 Freedmen's Cemetery. Generous
donations from members of the community made possible the fabrication and
placement of this marker.

More than 1,700 formerly enslaved African Americans and their children
have been identified as having been interred in the Freedmen's Cemetery.
The highway marker is the first monument to these people since their
original wooden headstones rotted away in the 1870s. During the 1950s
and 1960s, a gas station and office building were erected on the site,
disturbing burials and obscuring any trace of the property's former use.


The Friends of the Freedmen's Cemetery have also received an African
American History in Virginia Grant from the Virginia Foundation for
Humanities and Public Policy. The funds are being used to produce an
interpretive brochure and website to include historical and genealogical
information.

The Friends of the Freedmen's Cemetery will host a marker unveiling and
dedication ceremony at the cemetery site beginning at 10 a.m., Saturday,
September 30. We will assemble at the sidewalk in front of the Mobil
station at 1001 South Washington Street.

Following the dedication ceremony there will be a reception at the
Alexandria Black History Resource Center, 638 North Alfred Street.

The event is an opportunity to honor the donors whose generosity has made
possible the placement of the historic marker and to show our gratitude
to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, the Virginia Foundation
for Humanities and Public Policy, and all the civic groups, churches and
other organizations, and individuals who have helped us over the last
four years.

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