This Week in Historic Alexandria

This Week in
Alexandria History

Noted Alexandria attorney and civil rights activist Samuel Wilbur Tucker once said, "I got involved in the civil rights movement on June 18, 1913, in Alexandria. I was born black." Early in his life, Tucker witnessed and understood the inequality of "separate but equal" segregation laws, and he pursued an active legal career as a positive force for change. It was he who organized the 1939 peaceful demonstration by five well-dressed men of color at the Alexandria Library on Queen Street. A year later, he rejected the City's response in constructing the small Robert Robinson Library specifically for African Americans, refusing to accept a library card to that clearly unequal facility.

On Sale Now

Openings are still available for children to participate in Clio’s Kids: A History Mini-Camp at The Lyceum, Alexandria’s History Museum! The theme for 2013 is “To and Fro and Away We Go!" Children ages 5 to 7 will learn about transportation and travel in and around Alexandria, past and present. The camp will run July 23 to 25, 2013, 9 a.m. to 12 noon for children ages 5 - 7. The fee is $105 and includes snacks and souvenirs. Click here for Information about Clio’s Kids Camp and a downloadable camp application, or call The Lyceum at 703.746.4994 for additional information.

EVENTS * click the picture to see a larger photo

»	Saturday, June 22 - Hall of Fame, Photographic Mural Dedication Ceremony Charles Houston Recreation Center, 905 Wythe Street Join the Charles Houston Ad-Hoc Hall of Fame Subcommittee and the City of Alexandria for a dedication ceremony that celebrates the new Hall of Fame at the Charles Houston Recreation Center , honoring Alexandria's African American history makers, and a photographic mural that highlights keys places in the city's African American community. Free! 2 p.m. reception, 3 p.m. ceremony. For more information, or to arrange reasonable accommodations, please contact 703.746.5504.
»	Sunday, June 23 - Presidential Salon with James Madison Gadsby's Tavern Museum, 134 North Royal Street Join the conversation with President Madison as he discusses and engages guests about political and personal issues associated with 1813 and the ongoing War of 1812. Reservations are recommended. 3 to 4:30 p.m. Tickets are available at $15 per person, $10 high school/college students. For more information, please visit www.gadsbystavern.org or call 703.746.4242.
»	Open throughAugust 3, 2013 - Living Legends of Alexandria: African American Activists Alexandria Black History Museum, 601 Wythe Street Living Legends of Alexandria is an ongoing, not-for-profit photo-documentary project created in 2006 by artist-photographer Nina Tisara to identify, honor and chronicle people making current history in Alexandria. Over the years, 13 African Americans have been chronicled as part of the project. The African American Legends included in this exhibition are: Ferdinand Day, 2007-08; Lillie Finklea, Carlton Funn Sr., Eula Miller, Melvin Miller and Bert Ransom, 2008-09; Nelson Greene Sr., 2010; Lynnwood Campbell, 2011; Lillian Patterson, Gwen Menefee-Smith and Dorothy Turner, 2012; and Willie Bailey Sr. and Rosa Byrd, 2013. Free! The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, please visit www.alexblackhistory.org or call 703.746.4356.
»	*Open Through September 2013 - Occupied City: Life in Civil War Alexandria* Exhibition** The Lyceum, Alexandria's History Museum, 201 South Washington Street Open daily, this exhibit traces life in Alexandria following Virginia's decision to secede from the Union in May 1861. See how Robert E. Lee's hometown was transformed literally overnight from a prosperous commercial port into a supply, hospital, and transportation center for the Union Army, and find out why Alexandria became a destination for African Americans seeking freedom. Explore the experiences of Alexandrians and others who lived here during this tumultuous time, through their own words, as well as in period photographs and collections items. The Lyceum is open Monday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Suggested admission is $2. For more information, please visit www.alexandriahistory.org or call 703.746.4994.
»	*Open Through 2013 - The Marshall House Incident* Exhibition** Fort Ward Museum, 4301 West Braddock Road The deaths of Union Colonel Elmer Ellsworth and secessionist James Jackson at the Marshall House Hotel on King Street during the Federal occupation of Alexandria on May 24, 1861, stirred patriotic fervor in both the North and South. This exhibit at Fort Ward features objects from the museum collection, like a star from the flag that had flown over Marshall House, and loan items from the Mary Custis Lee Chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy, to tell this notable story of the event that launched the Civil War in Alexandria. Free! The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, from noon to 5 p.m. For more information, please visit www.fortward.org or call 703.746.4848.