The Alexandria Black History Museum was established in the 1980s as a place of historical significance to African American culture in Alexandria, Virginia. The museum most notably contains the Robert Robinson Library, the end product of the first alleged "sit-in" in America. The museum also contains the Watson Reading Room and the African American Heritage Park. While serving as a museum the mission is to "enrich the lives of Alexandria’s residents and visitors, to foster tolerance and understanding among all cultures and to stimulate appreciation for the diversity of the African American experience", according to the official website.
In August 1939, attorney Samuel W. Tucker orchestrated what appears to be the earliest organized civil rights sit-in at this library. At that time, Alexandria was a city of 33,000 and had only one public library. Although local Black residents vote and paid their taxes (some of which went to financing the library after it had been built), they were denied entry to the white-only library. Attorney Samuel W. Tucker was 26 in the summer of 1939, and to protest the library's white-only policy, he prepared a select group of men for an act of civil disobedience. On Friday, August 21, 1939, Tucker's group entered the public library despite the library's policy of only serving white patrons. They were denied service and told to leave, but they sat down and read until the police arrived and arrested the men for trespassing. The situation was virtually ignored by most newspapers at the time, and Samuel Tucker continued fighting against segregation and intolerance thereafter, becoming a prominent voice in the Civil Rights era. He later served as the lead lawyer for the NAACP and argued several cases before the the Supreme Court.
The four townhouses were built in 1850 by Moses Hepburn, the wealthiest free African American in Alexandria. He was born as a slave in 1809 and freed seven years later. He was also one of the nine founders of Davis Chapel, later Roberts Memorial United Methodist Church, the oldest African American church building in Alexandria (1834). The houses were constructed somewhere after he purchased the property in 1850. Located in the middle of the block, they are relatively modest in scale when compared to the other existing houses on the street. The houses were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
Home to Alexandria’s oldest African American congregation, Alfred Street Baptist Church has long served as a center of the religious, educational, and social life of the city's Black community. The church was founded in 1818 in the Bottoms, a neighborhood that was home to many former slaves and free people of color prior to the Civil War. Alfred Street Baptist Church was first known as First Colored Baptist Church.
The Dr. Albert Johnson House is a historical home in Alexandria, Virginia, in the Bottoms neighborhood. Built at some point during the 19th century, the building is noted for being the home of African American Physician, Dr. Albert Johnson. It underwent structural renovation in 1974. On September 10th, 2003, it was designated on the Virginia Landmark Register, and on January 16th, 2004, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Odd Fellows Hall is a historic hall of the Odd Fellows society, this one located in Alexandria, Virginia. The original building was built in 1864, and in 1870, it was expanded upon to reach the size the hall currently is. Additionally, the hall is particularly interesting because it allowed African Americans access and membership in the organization, where other social organizations of the time would not. On September 10th, 2003, it was designated on the Virginia Landmark Register, and on January 16th, 2004, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
George Washington and other residents of Alexandria endowed the Alexandria Academy as a subscription school that would also provide free education for as many poor and orphaned children as might be accommodated on the schools upper floor. The majority of students paid modest tuition and the school was open to boys and girls alike. Years later, the academy hosted a school for African Americans. However, the organization discontinued their support for Black education in 1847 in response to a special law passed by the state of Virginia that forbid teaching African Americans to read-even those who were not enslaved. During the Civil War, the building became home to a small hospital and a s school for African Americans.
The George L. Seaton House is located in Alexandria, Virginia, and resides in the second oldest African American neighborhood in this area, Hayti. This two-story brick building was built around 1861-1866. The property is named after prominent African-American community leader George Lewis Seaton, who purchased the house on April 14, 1866. Historical artifacts representing the community of Hayti have been discovered by archaeologists. The property, along with its artifacts, resemble the life of free Blacks in Alexandria in the mid-19th century. In 2004, this property was recognized by the National Register of Historic Places.
Davis Chapel, known also as the Roberts Memorial United Methodist Church, is a historic chapel in Alexandria, Virginia. Built in 1834, it is the oldest African American church in the city of Alexandria, and as such was related to early efforts for African American education in the state. Today, the church continues to serve as a church, but also as a center for civic engagement in Alexandria’s African American community. On June 17th, 1986, it was designated on the Virginia Landmark Register, and on November 6th, 1986, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Throughout the Civil War, enslaved Americans fled to Union-controlled areas and many found work as servants assisting the war effort in places like Alexandria. Prior to the Emancipation Proclamation which declared that all slaves in rebel-held territory were free, escaping slaves were commonly referred to as "contrabands." Although this reference likened people to property, the term derives from supportive Union Generals who took the initiative to exploit the unclear legal status of escaping Black men and women in the same way they might treat a rifle or mule that could assist the rebellion if returned to the South. As more "contraband" humans entered Alexandria, some of them succumbed to disease. In response, local officials set aside this land for the Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery.
Once the home of the largest slave-trading company in Virginia, this historic building is now home to the Freedom House Museum. Built between 1810 and 1820, the home is most famous for holding the offices of Isaac Franklin and John Armfield, the owners of the largest slave trading firm in the region. Demonstrating the way history and historical interpretations change over time, the building is now owned by the Urban League and home to a museum that teaches about the evils of slavery and the slave trade. The museum is dedicated to Henry Louis Bailey, a slave held in the building's basement who later returned to Alexandria and established schools and a church. The museum offers numerous exhibits about the slave trade, life as a slave, and other exhibits related to slavery and freedom for people of African descent in America. On October 16th, 1979, it was designated on the Virginia Landmark Register, and on June 2nd, 1978, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places and designated as a National Historic Landmark.
This historic home was once the property of Joseph Bruin, a slave trader who held hundreds of human beings in the basement of this home as they awaited transportation and sale to slave plantations throughout the South. Bruin purchased this home in 1844 and acted as a middle man until his capture by Union troops during the Civil War. Harriet Beecher Stowe referenced this slave pen as a reference within her books "The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin" and the prequel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin." The jail was most famous for holding the Edmondson Sisters who almost escaped to freedom aboard the Pearl. These women were among 77 slaves who attempted to evade their owners by boarding the ship which was piloted by abolitionists. The building served as the Fairfax County Courthouse for a short time following Bruin's capture by Union troops and was later sold and used as a private home.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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This tour starts at the location of a former slave pen and concludes at the city's museum of African American history. Stops on the tour include locations of historic sit-ins, churches and homes of influential black citizens, an African American cemetery, and organizations that were open to residents of all races in the era of segregation.
