lexandria’s African American historyexemplifies the spectrum of black expe-rience in the United States. Visitorstoday may experience the lives andstories of African Americans whosecontributions to Alexandria andAmerican history still resonate. From

slavery to freedom, from freedom to equality,and from equality to integration, this guideshowcases the tremendous courage and accom-plishments of Alexandria’s African Americansfrom the 18th to the 20th centuries.

Learn about Benjamin Banneker, whoendured harsh conditions to help establish ournation’s capital. Meet the Edmonsons, twoenslaved sisters captured while making a coura-geous run for freedom. Read about the wound-ed United States Colored Troops who petitionedthe Federal Government to allow black CivilWar soldiers to be buried in the Soldier’sCemetery. Discover the five young black menwho led a non-violent sit-in protest decadesbefore the famous Greensboro, North Carolina,sit-in. Tour Alexandria’s early free black neigh-borhoods, with their homes, churches, busi-nesses and social organizations that formed thefoundation of the community.

The stories are themselves significant, buttaken as a whole, Alexandria’s African Americanhistory is truly remarkable.

AcknowledgementsThe Alexandria Convention & Visitors Associationwould like to thank the following for their a s s i s-tance on this project. Thanks to the Vi rg i n i aTourism Corporation for their matching grantin support of this project. Special thanks to PamCressey and Alexandria Archaeology for their25 years of research into Alexandria’s AfricanAmerican history; Louis Hicks and AudreyDavis of the Alexandria Black History ResourceCenter; Jean Taylor Federico and T. MichaelMiller of the Office of Historic Alexandria;Timothy Denee and the Friends of Freedmen’sCemetery; Wesley Pippenger, Lilian Patterson,Marion B.W. Holmes, Carlton Funn, ElsieThomas, Richard Dodson; and finally, thanks tothe Alexandria City Council, City Staff, and theresidents of Alexandria for their efforts in bring-ing Alexandria’s African American history tothe forefront.

A

* National Register of Historic Places(° denotes status pending)

$ Admission charge

18th Century SitesMarket Square*300 Block of King Street. Part of the 1946 Old &Historic Alexandria District, the third oldest suchdistrict in the country. (Map #17)

Since the founding of the City in 1749, thissquare has always been the center of activ-ity. A notice that appeared in the March

16, 1801 edition of theAlexandria Advertiser &Commercial Intelligenceradvertised four slavesto be sold at theMarket Square onMarch 26. EnslavedAfrican Americans, aswell as local farmers,came to the square tosell their handiwork orproduce, skimping andsaving to buy theirfreedom. SophiaBrowning Bell was onesuch individual. Bellwas allowed to use acorner of her master’syard to grow tomatoesand vegetables to sell at market. In 1801, she bought her husband, George, for $400and freed him. In 1807, George Bell helpedestablish the first school for African Americanchildren in Washington, D.C.

Carlyle House Historic Park*121 North Fairfax Street, $ (Map #7)

Scottish merchant and city founder JohnCarlyle built the Carlyle House, ofGeorgian architectural design, in 1752.

Enslaved African Americans maintained theCarlyle household and provided labor forJohn Carlyle’s numerous business enterprises.As many as 30 enslaved people may havemaintained Carlyle’s lifestyle and mercantilebusiness, including Moses, Nanny, Jenny, Joe,Cate, Sibreia, Cook, Charles and Penny. Thefirst reference to Carlyle’s ownership of 1

enslaved African Americans comes in a letterwritten shortly after his first marriage whenhe notes that his “Wife’s fortune Consists ofLands & Sum Negro’s.” The inventory ofCarlyle’s town property taken after his deathin 1780 listed nine enslaved individuals.Among the many occupations of Carlyle’senslaved African Americans were blacksmiths,carpenters, masons and joiners who labored inhis construction enterprises. In Carlyle’s mer-chant business, enslaved people served innumerous capacities from sailing the ships tohauling the goods as wagoners.

Gadsby’s Tavern Museum*134 North Royal Street, $ (Map #12)

Gadsby’s Tavern was a center of commerce,politics and society in late 18th and early19th century Alexandria. As the scene of

George Washington’s “Birthnight” balls andan inaugural banquet for Thomas Jefferson,the tavern is an important City landmark.Mary Hawkins, who managed the tavern from1774 to 1777, owned five enslaved AfricanAmericans: Phyllis, Selia, Elizabeth, Moses andAlexander. These slaves worked in the tavern,cooking, cleaning, working in the stables ands e rving as attendants to guests. Later, underthe stewardship of John G a d s b y, enslavedworkers continued to pro v i d e service to the2

Benjamin Banneker (1731–1806)Benjamin Banneker, considered the “first

black man of science,”was as e l f - e d u cate d black mathemati-cian and astronomer. ThomasJefferson declared Banneker’s1792 Almanack “proof…thatnature has given our blackbrethren, talents equal to thatof other colors of men, and thatthe appearance of a want ofthem is owing merely to thedegraded condition of theirexistence…” Banneker, whileassisting with the capital survey,recreated from memory theentire plan for the new capitalcity of Wa s h i n g ton when Pi e rreL’ En f a nt, the original planner,

quit and took the plans with him.

18TH-CENTURY PROFILE

tavern. In 1800, Gadsby owned 11 enslavedindividuals above 16 years of age. Tavernkeepers often owned the largest number ofenslaved people in Alexandria, according tocensus records. Touring the museum offersinsight into tavern life, workers, visitors, trav-el habits, food and drink, architecture anddecorative arts of the time period.

District of Columbia Southern Cornerstone*Jones Point Park. The south cornerstone is in a recess of a retaining seawall just east of thehistoric lighthouse. (Map #8)

The District of Columbia’s south corner-stone represents one of the oldest artifactsassociated with the United States Capital

Survey. Boundary stones were set in mileincrements around the perimeter of theCapital City’s boundary. Benjamin Banneker, afree black mathematician and astronomer, waschosen to join Surveyor Andrew Ellicott’steam to locate the south corner in Jones Pointand maintain the survey’s accuracy throughastronomical calculations and measurements(see 18th Century Profile). To complete his task,Banneker endured harsh, cold weather w h i l ecamping out on Jones Point at the survey basecamp. Banneker’s assignment to the surv e yteam was a critical step in his care e r. Access tothe team’s finely tuned instruments possiblyenabled Banneker to make the necessary calcu-lations for his 1792 publication Almanack andE p h e m e r i e s, which included weather, astron o m-ical and other related tabular inform a t i o n , a n dgained him national re n o w n .

Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum*105–107 South Fairfax Street, $ (Map #23)

While an apothecary apprentice to aQuaker in York, Pennsylvania at age 17,Edward Stabler (1769–1831) may have

been exposed to the antislavery activity of the

3Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary

Philadelphia Friends. Later, he would open hisown apothecary business in Alexandria. InFebruary 1796, he advertised a meeting of theSociety for the Relief of People Illegally Heldin Bondage in the Alexandria Gazette. TheSociety’s purpose was to sue for freedom ofindividual blacks when the legal titles to themwere in doubt. Stabler continued to partici-pate in the antislavery movement inAlexandria including purchasing enslavedindividuals and freeing them until his deathin 1831. Stabler, a Quaker, said of slavery, “…it sickens my heart to reflect upon it.”

Hoffman Sugar House & Lloyd House°Lloyd House, 222 North Washington Street (the refinery no longer exists) (Map #14)

Jacob Hoffman, a merchant and a formermayor of Alexandria, became one of twomajor sugar refiners in the city after the

construction of his refinery in 1802. Hoffmanlived just north of the refinery in the LloydHouse. The refinery was dependent uponenslaved African American labor consisting offive men and two boys. In the early 19th cen-tury, the Hoffman Sugar House along with theAlfred Street Sugar House at 111–123 NorthAlfred Street, placed Alexandria as the thirdlargest manufacturer of refined sugar in theUnited States, behind the entire states of NewYork and Maryland. Later, Quaker educatorBenjamin Hallowell taught school in theLloyd House. Many Quakers assisted blacks ingaining freedom. Hallowell’s son HenryHallowell (1829–1899), an ardent abolitionist,is thought to have been a conductor for theUnderground Railroad (see pg. 9).

4

Foreground: Hoffman Sugar House; Background:Lloyd House

Alexandria Academy604 Wolfe Street (Map #2)

Built in 1785 with public donations fromcitizens like George Washington, theAlexandria Academy was established to

provide white children with an education.After the War of 1812, the white school vacat-ed the building, and a free African Americanschool taught by the Reverend James H.Hanson, a white minister from the MethodistEpiscopal Church, was established. Whiteadvocates of public schooling largely support-ed the free African American school and itremained in operation until 1847. At thattime, Alexandria, once a part of the District ofColumbia, retroceded to the Commonwealthof Virginia which forbade the education ofAfrican Americans. At one point, nearly 300students were part of the free school system.

19th Century SitesDominick Barecroft Public House315 Cameron Street, Private Residence (Map #9)

After gaining his and his wife’s freedom,Dominick Barecroft became a successfulbusinessman in the early 19th century.

Barecroft’s manumission was filed on May 5,1800 by David Henderson, who had purc h a s e dhim for $200 in February of that same y e a r. Itis not clear from the manumission how or whyB a re c roft was freed by Henderson. PerhapsHenderson purchased Barecroft with the delib-erate purpose of freeing him, an act that occa-sionally occurred. Dominick paid $59 for hiswife Esther on July 7, 1804 and subsequentlyf reed her on S e p t e m b e r 10, 1804. From 1803 to 1824, Barecroft operated a very successfultavern on North Fairfax Street. The AlexandriaGazette described him in 1862 as “very digni-fied” and “kept a licensed public house, visit-ed only by respectable persons…” It was saidhe knew how to prepare crabs that were sodelicious that “epicures, titled and distin-guished, from Washington would come forcrab suppers.” In 1817, he bought a house andlot at 315 Cameron Stre e t .

Franklin & Armfield Slave Office & Pen(Freedom House)*1315 Duke Street (Map #10)

This building served as headquarters for theslave trade operations of Isaac Franklinand John Armfield, a partnership formed

in 1828. Exporting thousands of enslaved 5

people south, this was one of the largest slavetrading companies in the country. EnslavedAfrican Americans were housed in “pens” —large walled areas with males to the west andfemales to the east. In January 1834, J. Leavitt,Editor of the New York Evangelist, visited theslave pens. As recounted by Leavitt:

“We were first taken out into a paved yard 40or 50 feet square, with a very high brick wall andabout half of it covered with a roof… He (Arm f i e l d )ordered the men to be called out from the cellarwhere they sleep…they soon came up…50 or 60.While they were standing, he ordered the girls tobe called out…About 50 women and small childre ncame in… and I thought I saw in the faces of thesemothers some indication of irrepressible feeling. It seemed to me that they hugged their little onesmore closely, and that a cold perspiration stood ontheir foreheads…”

The slave dealing businesses were all butabandoned by the time of the Civil War. Earlyin the War, President Lincoln held out hope ofreuniting the Union without total war andrespected the federal and state laws that keptmost African Americans in slavery, althoughrunaway and freed slaves were increasinglyput to work for the Union war effort. Duringthe Federal occupation of Alexandria, thebuilding became a jail for captured Confederatesoldiers and rowdy Union soldiers, as well ashousing and a hospital for “contraband,”escaped or freed slaves. In 1870, the slave penwalls were torn down.

Roberts Memorial United Methodist Church°606 South Washington Street (Map #22)

Built in 1834, the Roberts Memorial UnitedMethodist Church is the oldest AfricanAmerican church building in Alexandria.6

Slave Pen during Civil War; Pens are visible either sideof building

The black congregation was founded in 1830by nine men, four white and five free blacks,including Moses Hepburn (see pg. 8). Althoughconstruction began in 1831 on a site on NorthColumbus Street, the backlash of fear thatresulted from the Nat Turner Slave Rebellion,the largest slave insurrection, forced the con-struction’s halt. The present site of the churchwas purchased in 1833 with the brick buildingbeing completed in 1834. The church wasmodified in 1894 in the Gothic style. Originallycalled Davis Chapel after a white minister, thename was changed in 1845 when ReverendDavis agreed with the S o u t h e rn MethodistC h u rch support of slavery.

Bruin “Negro Jail” *1707 Duke Street (Map #6)

Opened in 1843 and operated by JosephBruin, this business was the dominantslave dealer by 1847. While awaiting pur-

chase, the enslaved people were housed inBruin’s “jail” on the property. In April 1848,77 enslaved African Americans attempted toescape aboard the schooner Pearl, then dockedin Washington, D.C. After their capture in theChesapeake Bay, they were sold to Bruin. TwoAfrican American sisters who participated in theattempted escape, Emily and Mary Edmonson,were initially sent south to slave markets inNew Orleans, but returned to Alexandria onpromises that their father would purchasethem (see 19th Century Profile). After desperate-ly attempting to raise the funds, includingtraveling to New York to plead his cause, theirfather was able to get enough money and freethe sisters with the help of Rev. Henry WardBeecher and other Northern Abolitionists.Harriet Beecher Stowe, daughter of Rev.Beecher and author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, usedthe story as research for her book, whichpolarized the country around the issue of

71850 map of Bruin’s “Negro Jail”

slavery. Bruin’s business continued to operateuntil Alexandria was occupied by F e d e r a lt roops at the start of the Civil Wa r. Bru i nattempted to escape, but was caught and im-prisoned for six weeks before being released. In1863, the U.S. Marshall confiscated his pro p e rt y.

Moses Hepburn Home and Townhouses°206–212 North Pitt Street, Private Residence(Map #18)

The four townhouses were built in 1850 byMoses Hepburn, the wealthiest freeAfrican American in Alexandria. Moses

inherited great wealth from his father, a pros-perous white merchant and member of CityCouncil. Esther, his African American mother,was enslaved to his father until 1816 whenshe and her children, including Moses, weresold to her free black sister, Harriet Jackson.Eleven days later, Harriet freed Esther and herchildren. Hepburn’s will provided for the chil-dren, especially Moses. After receiving an edu-cation in Pennsylvania, Moses married andbecame a successful businessman, civic leaderand a founder of Davis Chapel, later RobertsMemorial (see pg. 6). With his father’s inheri-tance, historians have asserted that Hepburnbecame the wealthiest African American inNorthern Virginia and continued to increasehis wealth through his shrewd business acu-men. Wanting to provide an education for his

8 Hepburn Townhouses, circa 2001

1707 Duke Street, circa 2001

children, he sent his son Moses, Jr. to schoolin Washington, D.C. Upon learning of this,Alexandria authorities threatened Hepburnwith an ultimatum to leave the state or facereprisals for educating his son. In 1847,Alexandria was retroceded to Virginia, whichforbade the education of African Americans.As a result, the family decided to leave, relo-cating to West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Oscar and Joseph Ball Runaway Site505 Ca m e ron St re e t, Pri vate Re s i d e n ce ( Map #20)

Oscar Ball was enslaved to ElizabethGordon, who had agreed to let him pur-chase his freedom. However, Ms. Gordon

kept rescinding her offer or raising the price.As a result, Oscar escaped, making his bid forfreedom via the Underground Railroad. In1858, Ms. Gordon also lost another enslavedman named Joe Ball to the Underground

Emily and Mary EdmonsonEmily and Mary Edmonson were the twoyoungest daughters of Paul and AmeliaEdmonson, a free black man and his wife,who was an enslaved individual. Underlaw, all of the couple’s 14 children wereenslaved. Their Maryland owner hiredthem out in Wa s h i n g to nas servants, laborersand skilled workers.Mary and Emily were15 and 13 respectivelyat the time of theescape attemptaboard the Pearl.Ac co rding to histo ri a n s,Emily had received amarriage proposalwhich she turneddown. It was therejected suitor whorevealed where theescaped slaves hadgone and how theyleft. After beingcaptured and held in bondage at Bruin’s“Negro Jail” (see pg.7), the Edmonson sis-ters were purchased by their father. Thewomen would later attend OberlinCollege through the support of Rev.Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe.

19TH-CENTURY PROFILE

Mary and EmilyEdmonson

9

Railroad. After he escaped, he wrote back tofriends asking them to help secure passage forhis wife and four children to Toronto. Fromwhat little evidence that exists, Alexandriawas most likely a stop on the UndergroundRailroad, a loose network of homes and otherplaces every 20 or 30 miles that hid slavesescaping to the North. Alexandria was part ofthe “Washington Line” to freedom, whichstretched from North Carolina to Alexandriabefore crossing the Potomac into Washington,D.C. It was a risky path, subject to nightpatrols that watched the roads. North ofRichmond, the line was secretly marked bynails in trees and in fence rails at forks in theroad. Although the identities of the station-keepers are unknown, it is likely they were fre eblack and Quaker families. Henry Hallowell(1829–1899) was one of the suspected Quakerconductors in Alexandria. Local Quaker meet-ing houses suspected of being stations on theUnderground Railroad include Woodlawn, inFairfax County, and Hallowell’s home inAlexandria, the Lloyd House (see pg. 9) .

Alexandria National Cemetery (Soldier’s Cemetery)*1450 Wilkes Street (Map #4)

The Alexandria National Cemetery was oneof 12 sites established and dedicated byPresident Abraham Lincoln in 1862 to

serve as military burial grounds. Out of the3,533 Civil War veterans buried in the ceme-tery, 229 were African Americans, the majorityof which belonged to the United StatesColored Troops (U.S.C.T.). Many of these menwere originally buried in Freedmen’sCemetery (see pg. 12) and later reburied heredue to the protests from black soldiers whofelt they had a right to be included with whitesoldiers. The petition, sent on December 27,1864, states:

“As American citizens, we have a right to fightfor the protection of her flag, that right is granted,10

Reward Ad for “Oscar”

and we are nowsharing equally thedangers and hard-ships in this mightycontest, and shouldshair the same privi-leges and rights ofburrial in every waywith our fellow sol-diers, who only differfrom us in color…”

Note: The dateson many grave-stones do notreflect the date thesoldier died, ratherthe dates of re-internment herefrom Freedmen’sCemetery.

L’Ouverture General Hospital & BarracksBlock between 1300 Duke, 1300 Prince, 200South Payne, 200 South West streets (Map #16)

The L’Ouverture General Hospital was aUnion military hospital for AfricanAmerican soldiers, as well as escaped slaves,

called “contrabands,” and freed slaves, duringthe Civil War. The hospital was named afterToussaint L’Ouverture who led an African-Caribbean revolt on Hispaniola (present-dayHaiti) against British, Spanish and Frenchforces. The hospital complex included a hospi-tal, dispensary, dead house, sink and longtents for recovering soldiers. One three-storybrick structure at 217–219 South Payne Street,used as hospital headquarters, still stands.

11

From a recruitingposter, circa 1863

U.S. Quartermaster Map

Freedmen’s Cemetery1001 South Washington Street and 714 ChurchStreet (Map #11)

Established in the spring of 1864 during theCivil War on land seized from a pro - C o n f e d-erate owner, the Freedmen’s Cemetery was

originally created for the burials of “contra-bands.” A witness described the funeral ofAfrican American Pvt. John Cooley: “…funeralof a colored soldier, the first who has died here .Had a white escort and was buried in the newF re e d m a n ’s Burial ground.” Originally, 75 AfricanAmerican soldiers were buried here, but weremoved in January 1865 to the Soldier’s Cemetery(see pg. 10). Cooley became the first soldier re-i n t e rred in there. Although he died May 5, 1864,his headstone (#3451) reads January 21, 1865,the date of his re-internment. The last burialoccurred in Freedmen’s Cemetery in 1868.Unfortunately, the cemetery became neglectedand all traces of its location disappeared untilrecently when the site was re d i s c o v e red. Arc h a e-ological investigation has determined thathundreds of graves remain at the site today.

George Lewis Seaton House°404 South Royal St re e t,Pri vate Re s i d e n ce ( Map #13)

George Lewis Seaton, (1822–1881) was bornthird of 11 children to free black parents.Seaton’s mother Lucinda was born a slave

to George and Martha Washington and wasfreed by Martha when Lucinda was an infant.George Seaton went on to become a promi-nent free black master carpenter, building thehome at this address in 1852 in the GreekRevival style. Seaton also established a presti-gious civic career including serving as a statelegislator during Reconstruction. He foundedthe local Black YMCA and constructed thefirst public schools for black students, theSnowden School for Boys and the HallowellSchool for Girls. Seaton also served on thejury during the trial of Confederate PresidentJefferson Davis. The house in which Seatonlived from the early 1870s until his death in1881, is located in the heart of the historicHayti neighborhood (see Neighborhood G), oncean enclave of free blacks.

Odd Fellows Hall°411 South Columbus Street (Map #19)

This late 19th-century brick structure was amajor gathering place for AfricanAmericans following the Civil War. A

number of benevolent organizations, such asthe Odd Fellows, Rising Star, and the12

Daughters of Zion, provided social associa-tions for both men and women. According toone historian, “Secret in principle and benev-olent in purpose, these societies affordedunique opportunity for community effort, thepromotion of racial consciousness and thedevelopment of leadership.” As part of theBottoms neighborhood (see Neighborhood C),the hall served an important role in develop-ing community identity, promotion of racialconsciousness and leadership skills. One ofthe founders of the 1869 Odd Fellows JointStock Company that leased the hall wasGeorge Seaton (see pg. 12), a prominentAfrican American.

Alfred Street Baptist Church°313 South Alfred Street (Map #5)

Alfred Street Baptist Church is one of thetwo oldest existing African Americanchurch structures in the city, and the old-

est congregation, dating to the early 19th cen-tury. Built in 1885, the brick Alfred StreetBaptist Church was probably designed andbuilt by free Black craftsmen. The site is signif-icant for its major religious, educational andcultural role in Alexandria’s free Black com-munity prior to the Civil War. Alfred StreetBaptist Church is a landmark of the Bottomsneighborhood (see Neighborhood C). Thechurch has been remodeled and expandedover the years.

Dr. Albert Johnson House°814 Duke Street, Private Residence (Map #15)

Built in the mid-19th century, this two-story brick house with its cast iron porchwas the home of Dr. Albert Johnson

(1866–1949). Dr. Johnson graduated in 1892from Howard UniversityMedical School, the firstblack medical school. The1900 Alexandria CityDirectory listed Dr. Johnsonas the sole African Americandoctor practicing in the city.The house is significant inthe historic context of resi-dential developmentbecause it illustrates therange of professions andpeople who lived in theB o t t o m s (see Neighborhood C),the oldest African Americanneighborhood inAlexandria. 13

Dr. Albert Johnson,circa 1899

20th Century SitesParker-Gray Elementary/High School900 block of Wythe Street (former site ofelementary school — neither schools standstoday) (Map #21)

In 1920, two separate schools for AfricanAmericans, the Hallowell School for Girls andthe Snowden School for Boys, were merged

to create a new school. Named Parker-GrayElementary for the respective principals ofboth schools, John Parker and Sarah Gray, theschool provided education for AfricanAmerican children from first to eighth grade.In 1927 Parker-Gray Elementary becameAlexandria’s first certified African Americanhigh school. Due to increased demand, theschool relocated to a bigger building onMadison Street. As schools became integratedthroughout the country, Parker-Gray waseventually phased out as a high school.

Alexandria Library (Barrett Branch)717 Queen Street (Map #3)

Two decades before the Civil Rights move-ment, black attorney Samuel Tucker led asit-in at the Alexandria Public Library (see

20th Century Profile). In 1937, the AlexandriaFree Library opened, although AfricanAmericans were denied its use. After severalattempts to argue his case for a true publiclibrary to no avail, Tucker organized theprotest in August 1939. He instructed fiveAfrican Americans, Otto Tucker, EdwardGaddis, Morris Murray, William Evans andClarence Strange, to go into the reading roomand refuse to leave. Tucker also gave instruc-tions to the men to be respectably dressed andpeacefully uncooperative. The five men werearrested, charged and soon after released. The

14 1939 Sit-In Strike Ends

case was never dismissed nor ruled upon by ajudge as Tucker had wanted. Rather, thecharges were simply dropped. As a result ofthe case, the City built the small RobinsonLibrary for African Americans in 1940 whichis now incorporated into the Black HistoryResource Center (see back of map).

African American Heritage ParkHolland Lane, between Duke Street andEisenhower Avenue (Map #1)

Established on the site of one of the oldestindependent African American burialgrounds, the Black Baptist Cemetery, the

park with its bronzed memorial, Truths thatRise from the Roots — Remembered by JeromeMeadows, honors the contributions of AfricanAmericans to the growth and success ofAlexandria. The cemetery, chart e red in 1885 bythe Silver Leaf Colored Society of Alexandria,was found during an archaeological investiga-tion. Some 21 gravesites and five grave mark-ers were discovered, protected and preserved.

15

Samuel Wilbert Tucker (1913–1990)Samuel Wi l be rt Tu c ke r, an unsung pat ri-a rch of the Civil Ri g hts move m e nt, wa sbo rn and pra ct i ced law in Al ex a n d ri a . He

read law under another at to r-n ey be cause Af ri can Am e ri ca n swe re barred from Vi rginia laws c h ools and gra d u ated fro mHowa rd Un i ve r s i ty. He orc h e s-t rated the first Civil Ri g hts sit-ins t ri ke at the Al ex a n d ria Li b ra ryin 1939 and be came a champi-on of inte g ration in educat i o n(see pg.1 4 ).Tu c ker be came awe l l - re s pe cted lawyer anda p pe a red five times be fo re theSu p reme Co u rt on civil ri g ht sca s e s. Se n . Edwa rd Broo ke ofMa s s a c h u s e t t s said of Tu c ke r,“He is always on the firing linewhen he be l i eves injustice isbeing done or some wro n g

needs to be ri g hte d.”An officer in the all-black 366th In f a nt ry Division in Wo rld Wa rI I , Samuel Tu c ker is buried in Arl i n g to nNational Ce m e te ry. In 1999, co n s t ru ct i o nbegan in Al ex a n d ria on a new element a rys c h ool named in honor of Tu c ke r.

20TH-CENTURY PROFILE

AttorneySamuelTucker

The Berg, (Neighborhood A)African Americans escaping slavery estab-lished the Berg during the Civil War in Union-occupied Alexandria. Oral history with long-time resident Henry Johnson yielded thederivation of the neighborhood’s name. Hereported that the term refers to Petersburg,Virginia, from where many freedmen escaped.The neighborhood is referred to in the filmRemember the Titans, about the 1971 T.C.

Williams High Schoolfootball team (seeNeighborhood K).

“Colored” Rosemont,(Neighborhood B)“Colored” Rosemont wasa small African Americanneighborhood estab-lished in the late 1800sand early 1900s. In1950, the P a r k e r- G r a yHigh School, a schoolfor black students understate segregation, wasbuilt in this neighbor-hood.

The Bottoms or The Dip, (Neighborhood C)Begun in the 18th century, the Bottoms wasthe first black neighborhood in Alexandria.The Bottoms rests at a lower elevation thansurrounding streets, hence its name. TheLawrason family entered into long-termground rent agreements with several freeblacks on the 300 block of South Alfred Street,which became the nucleus of the Bottoms. TheColored Baptist Society, eventually the AlfredStreet Baptist Church (see pg. 13) and the OddFellows Joint Stock Company, the oldest knownAfrican American association, were located inthe Bottoms. Many of these structures and anumber of townhouses are still visible on the300 block of South Alfred Street.

Cross Canal, (Neighborhood D)The Cross Canal neighborhood was a quietand rural area established in the Civil War era.16

Alexandria’s Free Black Neighborhoods

17

The neighborhood’s name was derived fromits location at the northeast section of thecity, just across the Alexandria Canal.Residents of this area were commonlyemployed on the wharves or the DominionGlass Factory, established in the early 20thcentury on North Fairfax Street. None of thebuildings survive; however, a plaque at NorthFairfax and Montgomery streets commemo-rates the neighborhood.

Fishtown, (Neighborhood E)Fishtown was a seasonal area that sprang upevery spring by the fish wharves, beginning in1856. Many of the buildings appeared to havebeen strictly seasonal, being erected as thefishing season began and dismantled again atthe end of the season. African Americans wereemployed as hands on the dock or as fishcleaners of shad and herring.

The Fo rt & Oa kland Baptist Ch u rch & Ce m e te ry,(Neighborhood F), 4301 West Braddock RoadThe name refers back to the Civil War whenthis area was Fort Ward. Clara Adams and

other residents of The Fortestablished a school and theOakland Baptist Churc h ,now located at 3408 KingStreet. Established in 1897,the Oakland Baptist ChurchCemetery is the onlyknown African Americancemetery outside Old Townand its first suburb, WestEnd, and was establishedon land now at the easternbounds of Fort Ward Park.Although the buildings nolonger stand, you can seefoundations of one of theFort’s homes just east of the parking lot as you enterthe park.

Hayti, (Neighborhood G)The Hayti (pronounced hay-tie) neighborhoodwas established in the early 1800s around the400 block of South Royal Street and was thehome of many black leaders. Haiti, site of theonly successful slave uprising in the westernhemisphere, inspired the name for this freeblack neighborhood. Trinity MethodistChurch, whose members were both black andwhite, may have grown as a result of Hayti’s

Visitors to the FortNeighborhood,date unknown

development. Quakers supported the growthof Hayti by renting and selling property to freeblack families. Today, several wood and bricktownhouses still survive on the 400 block ofSouth Royal and the 300 block of SouthFairfax streets. The Wilkes Street Tunnel, builtfor the Orange and Alexandria Railroad in1856, is a Hayti landmark.

The Hill, (Neighborhood H)The Hill, or Vinegar Hill as it was sometimescalled, was an African American residentialarea adjoining the Hayti neighborhood. TheHill’s name came from the expression “out onthe hill” in reference to the African Americansthat moved into the southern city limits dur-ing and after the Civil War. Saloons, groceriesand black schools were also part of the Hilln e i g h b o rhood. The 400 block of Gibbon Stre e ttoday is reminiscent of how the black neigh-borhood appeared in the early 19th century.18

Artist depiction of Hayti

Contraband workers working on railroad; Wilkes streetTunnel is in background

The Hump, (Neighborhood I)The Hump neighborhood was home to bothAfrican American and working class white citi-zens. Developing at the end of the 19th century,the Hump was one of the smaller AfricanAmerican neighborhoods. Henry Johnsonremembered life here as a child in the early20th century: “It was so cold that you couldgo to bed and see the moon shining (throughthe walls). The snow’d come through themcracks on your feet…Ice’d freeze on the wash-stand... It’d freeze in your bedroom… We hadto go to a pump to get water to wash with.The pump was right in the street on just ‘boutevery corner — great big old wooden pump...”

Uptown, (Neighborhood J)The Uptown neighborhood developed beforethe Civil War. By 1870, with many AfricanAmericans migrating to Alexandria during andafter the War, Uptown grew into a large neigh-borhood. Many black churches developedhere. The Parker-Gray historic district protectsthe historic structures in Uptown. The totalarea of Uptown is about 24 blocks, making itthe largest of the historic African Americanneighborhoods in Alexandria.

Macedonia & T.C. Williams High School,(Neighborhood K), 3330 King Street

Macedonia, also called Mudtown, was a blackn e i g h b o rhood located where Woods Place andT.C. Williams High School now stand. It includeda cemetery, whose stones are no longer extant,and the Seminary School. T.C. Williams HighSchool was the subject of the feature film,Remember the Ti t a n s. The movie dramatized theintegration of the Alexandria school system in1971. Parker- G r a y, the black school, merg e dwith the two predominately white schools ofG e o rge Washington and Francis Hammond.The integrated T.C. Williams football teamwent on to become the state champions.

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Home in Uptown Neighborhood, circa 1926

Request a Visitors GuideFor more information on Alexandria,call (800) 388-9119 for a free Official Visitors Guide to Alexandria.

AccommodationsAlexandria is proud to offer visitors the best in accommoda-tions. Select from a large resort property to mid-size, fullservice hotels to a small European-style manor house.For hotel reservations call (800) 296-1000 or log ontowww.FunSide.com.

Transportation to AlexandriaAlexandria is conveniently located near three major airports(Reagan National, Dulles International and Baltimore/Washington International), two Amtrak stations, and themajor highways such as I-95/I-495, I-270 and I-66.

Metro Subway SystemThe Metro is a safe and convenient means of transportationthat links Alexandria to Washington, D.C.There are five Metrostops in Alexandria (King Street, Braddock Road, EisenhowerAvenue, Huntington Avenue and Van Dorn Street).

Alexandria Library

For more inform ationon Alex andri a’sAfrican AmericanHeritage :Alexandria Black History Resource Center & Watson Reading Room638 North Alfred Street & 906 Wythe Street (Map #25)(703) 838-4356; ci.alexandria.va.us/oha/bhrcRe s ponding to the 1939 Af ri can Am e ri can sit-in at the Al ex a n d ri aLibrary, the City built this library, originally called the RobinsonLibrary, for African Americans in 1940.The library remained inoperation until desegregation in the early 1960s. Today, it is anintegral part of the Alexandria Black History Resource Center,which, along with the Watson Reading Room, seeks to researchand preserve the history of Alexandria’s and Northern Virginia’sAfrican American heritage.The Center also has a comprehensiveco l l e ction of doc u m e nts and re s o u rces on Af ri can Am e ri can histo ry.

Alexandria Archaeology MuseumTorpedo Factory Art Center, 105 North Union Street,Studio 327 (Map #24)(703) 838-4399; www.AlexandriaArchaeology.org The Alexandria Archaeology Museum has excavated 25 AfricanAm e ri can sites in the Ci ty of Al ex a n d ria and has re cove red thou-sands of art i f a cts re l ating to enslaved and free Af ri can Am e ri ca n s.The museum also contains historic maps, oral history, literatureand publications on African American culture in Alexandria, andeducational lessons pertaining to African American neighbor-hoods.The museum includes a public laboratory and a numberof exhibits highlighting Native American, African American andEuropean heritage, as well as urban development.

The Lyceum, Alexandria’s History Museum201 South Washington Street (Map #26)703/838-4994; ci.alexandria.va.us/oha/lyceumAs the community museum,The Lyceum preserves and inter-prets all facets of local history, including the experiences ofAfrican Americans.

Office of Historic Alexandria405 Cameron Street703/838-4554; ci.alexandria.va.us/ohaThe Office of Historic Alexandria is the City office that adminis-ters the local history programs, museums and preservation.

Alexandria Convention & Visitors Association

421 King Street, Suite 300Alexandria, VA 22314

(703) 838-4200(800) 388-9119

acva@FunSide.com

Ramsay House Visitors Center221 King Street

Alexandria, VA 22314(703) 838-5005(800) 388-9119

www.FunSide.com

Design by Saiz Designwww.saizdesign.com

African American Sites1. African American Heritage Park2. Alexandria Academy3. Alexandria Library (Barrett Branch)4. Alexandria National Cemetery (Soldier’s Cemetery)5. Alfred Street Baptist Church6. Bruin “Negro Jail”7. The Carlyle House Historic Park8. District of Columbia Southern Cornerstone9. Dominick Barecroft Public House10. Franklin & Armfield Slave Office & Pen

(Freedom House)11. Freedmen’s Cemetery12. Gadsby’s Tavern Museum13. George Lewis Seaton House14. Hoffman Sugar House & Lloyd House15. Dr. Albert Johnson House16. L’Ouverture General Hospital & Barracks17. Market Square18. Moses Hepburn Home and Townhouses19. Odd Fellows Hall20. Oscar and Joseph Ball Runaway Site21. Parker-Gray Elementary/High School22. Roberts Memorial United Methodist Church23. Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum

NeighborhoodsA. The BergB. “Colored” RosemontC. The Bottoms or The DipD. Cross CanalE. FishtownF. The Fort & Oakland Baptist Church & CemeteryG. HaytiH. The HillI. The HumpJ. UptownK. Macedonia

For more information on Alexandria’s African American Heritage:24. Alexandria Archaeology Museum25. Alexandria Black History Resource Center

& Watson Reading Room26. The Lyceum, Alexandria’s History Museum