This Week in Historic Alexandria

This Week in
Alexandria History

On May 23, 1861, beginning perhaps the most dramatic twenty-four hour period in Alexandria’s history, citizens ratified Virginia’s Ordinance of Secession by a vote of 958 to 48. Despite Alexandria’s proximity to the capital of the United States just across the Potomac River, the referendum confirmed that city residents supported the effort to break away from the United States and maintain their allegiance to Virginia, rather than become the conduit of attack against their home soil and states further south. After the votes were counted, a night long celebration took place and when it ended an unusual stillness settled over the town. Just before dawn the next morning, Union troops invaded the city by land and river, bringing the American Civil War to the front doors of the city virtually overnight.

On Sale Now

Gadsby’s Tavern Museum is pleased to invite you to Mrs. Madison’s Ball, where guests will enjoy the most fashionable dances of 1813 and Dolley Madison’s favorite desserts on Saturday, June 8, from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. This regency style ball is sure to live up to Mrs. Madison’s reputation for fine hospitality. The Ball will include live music, a special dessert collation, and a cash bar. Advance tickets are $45 per person and $50 at the door, if available. Tickets may be purchased by calling 703.746.4242 or online at www.gadsbystavern.org.

To prepare for Mrs. Madison’s Ball, dance lessons are encouraged! Learn English Country dancing from expert dance master Corky Palmer on May 23, May 30, and June 6 from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. All classes are on Thursday evenings in the museum’s historic ballroom. Doors open at 7:00 p.m.

EVENTS * click the picture to see a larger photo

»	Thursday, May 23 - 18th Century Dance Class Gadsby's Tavern Museum, 134 North Royal Street In preparation for Mrs. Madison's Ball on June 8, learn 18th-century dancing from expert dance instructors. Tickets are priced at $12 per class or $30 for the series of three classes. Reservations are recommended. Buy tickets online at the Event Link above, or call the museum. 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. For more information, please visit www.gadsbystavern.org or call 703.746.4242.
»	*Saturday, May 25 - Alleys and Attics* Walking Tour** Old Town Alexandria Find out what mysteries lay behind closed doors in four of Alexandria's historic sites! Attics and Alleys is a new three-hour walking tour featuring the rarely seen spaces of four sites - the Lee Fendall House, Gadsby's Tavern Museum, the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum, and Carlyle House - revealing remnants of stories otherwise hidden. This behind-the-scenes access is in honor of National Preservation Month and Virginia's Year of the Historic Home. Tickets are limited, and are now available for each Saturday morning in May at $25 regular ticket or $20 Volunteer/Members. Tours begin at 9 a.m. at the Lee-Fendall House (614 Oronoco Street) and end around 12 noon at Carlyle House (121 N. Fairfax Street). Light refreshments will be provided. Tour includes stairs, access to confined spaces, and walking over many city blocks, including through alleys. Walking shoes required; tour will be held rain or shine, with no refunds. Photography welcome. For more information, please call 703.746.4242.
»	Saturday, May 25 - Open House at R.E. Lee Camp Hall Museum R.E Lee Camp Hall Museum, 806 Prince Street Learn about Alexandria's unique place in Civil War history at the only museum in the city dedicated to the local companies of the 17th Virginia Infantry (Alexandria's Own) and the civilian population. See items that belonged to Robert E. Lee and his family. Guided tours available. Free! Donations are gratefully accepted. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, please contact relcamphall@hotmail.com or call 703.519.2123.
»	Saturday, May 25 - Firefighting in Civil War Alexandria Walking Tour Friendship Firehouse Museum, 107 South Alfred Street When Virginia joined the Confederacy, Union troops occupied Alexandria and it became a center for transportation, supplies and medicine. Most municipal functions were assumed by the U.S. Army under the authority of the military governor. The We’ve Been Burned: Alexandria Firefighters During the Civil War tour will explore firefighting during the Union occupation. How were volunteer fire companies treated by Federal authorities? Were firefighters allowed out after curfew? What happened to the firehouses and equipment? These questions will be answered as tour participants visit the sites of four of the five fire houses, and learn what happened if there was a fire in the occupied city. Tickets are $6 for adults and $4.00 for youth ages 10 to 17. Advanced reservations required. (The tours will not interest small children, but may be of interest to youth 10 and older.) 1 to 3 p.m. For more information, please call 703.746.4994.
»	Sunday, May 26 - Civil War Sunday Alexandria Archaeology Museum, 105 North Union Street, #327 Explore the Civil War in Alexandria with Civil War Sundays. See an original May 26, 1861, edition of the The New-York Tribune detailing Colonel Elmer Ellsworth’s death in Alexandria, a Peeps diorama illustrating Ellsworth’s death, a TimeTravelers Passport exhibit featuring the Civil War drummer boy, a diorama of a heating system constructed in Alexandria to warm Civil War hospital tents during the winter of 1861, a cocked and loaded Wickham musket discarded in a privy during the 1860s, and an exhibit on a Lee Street archaeological site during the Civil War. Free! 1 to 5 p.m. For more information, please visit www.alexandriaarchaeology.org or call 703.746.4399.
»	Open through August 3, 2013 - Living Legends of Alexandria: African American Activists Exhibition Alexandria Black History Museum, 601 Wythe Street Living Legends of Alexandria is an ongoing, not-for-profit photo-documentary project that was 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.