SEPTEMBER 2024 Edition
Feature Article
Origin Story
After the lynchings of Joseph McCoy and Benjamin Thomas, white Alexandrians armed themselves and joined the militia’s patrols, parading through the streets in the nights following the killings. They claimed to be concerned there would be violent reprisals from the traumatized Black community, but in reality, it was their own shadows they feared. In the end, the white press absolved Alexandria, the families of both young men migrated to the District, and over time accounts of the ghastly murders blended into the background.
As the decades marched on, nostalgia for colonial history and the “Lost Cause” mythology merged into a story Alexandria told and retold about the past to itself and to visitors. But the centering of the white perspective hollowed the truth out of local history while further harming Black Alexandrians, who did not, could not, forget what happened to Joseph McCoy on April 23, 1897 and Benjamin Thomas on August 8, 1899. The truth was kept alive in their hearts, among their families and behind church doors.
“While the lynchings of Joseph McCoy and Benjmain Thomas faded from the memories of white Alexandrians, the terror remained vivid for the African American community,” said Audrey Davis, who heads up the Division of African American History. “In Alexandria, African Americans continued to tell the lynching history by word of mouth, writing in diaries and sitting their children down for “the talk.” It was the only way they could protect themselves and future generations should the threat of horrific violence happen again.”
And that stayed the case until 2017, when then-Mayor Allison Silberberg received a letter from the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) explaining that two lynchings had occurred in Alexandria County in 1897 and 1899. The correspondence was part of a national effort by EJI to contact every county where they had documented a lynching and ask the community to correct the historical record with a historic marker.
"The community education, engagement, and memorialization involved in these programs allow communities to begin to confront and recover from histories of racial injustice," according to EJI.
As more places responded positively to the nonprofit organization’s remembrance program, it grew to include an essay contest for high school scholarships, a soil collection ceremony and a pilgrimage to the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama.
“Truthfully acknowledging this history is vital to healing and reconciliation,” EJI stated.
Gretchen Bulova, Director of the Office of Historic Alexandria (OHA), and Davis, aware of what happened to McCoy and Thomas, were supported and encouraged by City leadership to respond to EJI’s call to action. Bulova and Davis wrote to the Alabama group to let them know of Alexandria’s desire to participate in what was then called “EJI’s historical marker project.”
Planning began and in February 2019, Mayor Justin Wilson and City Council inaugurated a Steering Committee made up of City Departments, historians, faith leaders and activists to guide an organization of volunteers. The Alexandria Community Remembrance Project (ACRP) launched the following fall at the Charles Houston Recreation Center with a keynote by Kiara Boone, then an outreach representative from EJI.
Large numbers of Alexandrians participated in the initial meetings and signed up for committees tackling different aspects of EJI’s remembrance program. Then, just as committees began meeting, the COVID pandemic hit. Initially stalling the work, the project adopted virtual options for meetings and events.
The research committee spent countless volunteer hours producing historic narratives detailing the events of the lynchings of both Joseph McCoy and Benjamin Thomas. Remembrance planning committees organized annual events on the dates of the lynchings to acknowledge and apologize. A monthly newsletter was launched documenting ACRP’s work, providing more information and context regarding the lynchings, revealing new aspects of local history and connecting the past to the present. The soil and marker committee produced two historic markers erected at the site of each lynching as well as another at the site of the jail from which Thomas was taken. The committee was instrumental in determining where soil would be collected in the city and in organizing a soil collection ceremony. The pilgrimage committee prepared and directed a bus trip that carried that soil to Montgomery, Ala.
Alexandria City High School (ACHS) students joined ACRP and shared their perspectives and hopes. After participating in the pilgrimage, the students produced an award-winning film that featured their reactions and reflections. That same year, EJI awarded scholarships to several Alexandria City High School students who took part in a racial justice essay contest.
ACRP Genealogist Char McCargo Bah identified descendants of Joseph McCoy and Benjamin Thomas. Since then, ACRP has been enriched by our relationships with these descendants.
In 2024 ACRP gave opportunities to local youth that had been denied to Joseph McCoy and Benjamin Thomas by awarding the first annual scholarships in their names to two ACHS students.
On Saturday, September 21, two years after hundreds of Alexandrians remembered Joseph McCoy and Benjamin Thomas by placing soil representing their lives into jars baring their names, we will screen a documentary that captures Alexandria’s history from enslavement through the lynching era, as well as our efforts to recognize and integrate the entirety of our past into our collective narrative.
“We are all burdened by our history of racial inequality,” Bryan Stevenson, head of EJI, told a Penn State audience, “They used the narrative of racial difference to legitimate centuries of slavery. I don’t think slavery ended, it just evolved. People were beaten, lynched and terrorized. Today, we are still living at a time that these narratives are still out there.”
Alexandria is committed to continuing to remember and expand our understanding of this history - it is the only way to create a community bound by equity and inclusion. As Stevenson said, “We need to commit to truth and reconciliation and acknowledge the history to change the future and free us all.”
A Special Reception will be held in the Great Hall of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial prior to the screening on September 21. It is our first effort to raise much needed operating funds to continue this work. We hope you will consider attending.
Please join us in any and every aspect of our efforts to nurture our beloved community.
Alexandria Community Remembrance Project Screening of Resolved: Never Again
Saturday, September 21
5:30 p.m. Fundraising Reception
6:30 p.m. Theater doors open
7-8:30 p.m. Film screening and panel discussion
George Washington National Masonic Memorial, 101 Callahan Drive
Purchase tickets online.
The Alexandria Community Remembrance Project (ACRP) will debut a documentary film titled Resolved: Never Again. Filmmaker Robin Hamilton explores the port city’s involvement in slavery and the domestic slave trade until the Civil War, an era followed by decades of racial terror when the lynchings of Joseph McCoy and Benjamin Thomas took place. The documentary also examines how Alexandria has been confronting parts of this past since 2019.
Tickets are $10 per person for the film and panel.
A special pre-event Fundraising Reception where guests will meet Filmmaker Robin Hamilton and individuals featured in the documentary begins at 5:30 p.m. Multiple levels of giving begin at $75 for this special reception. All proceeds from this event support the work of the Alexandria Community Remembrance Project.
In Remembrance
On Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, Sandra A. Ludwig, a member of the Alexandria Community Remembrance Project’s Soil and Marker Committee, was laid to rest at King David Memorial Gardens in Falls Church, Va. Born in Hartford, CT, Ludwig was raised in Alexandria and graduated from Fort Hunt High School in 1968. She earned a degree in Sociology from the University of Maryland and a Masters in Social Work from Washington University, St. Louis, MO. Her obituary states that Sandra “was proud of her Peace Corps service in the Ivory Coast, as well as stints living and working in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands and Hennepin County, Minnesota. In the Washington, D.C. area, she contributed professionally to community building and service as a child and adolescent social worker for the District of Columbia and Fairfax County Public School and Social Service systems. Sandra especially loved her work in private practice with Northern Virginia Child and Family Services in Springfield, VA and as the Social Worker for the Pulley Career Center. Independent, principled, and resilient, Sandra founded the DC-area Women’s Adventure Club and served as a volunteer for the Soil and Marker Committee of the Alexandria Community Remembrance Project, working to make sure that the history of African Americans in Alexandria is recognized and not forgotten.”
The September 21 screening of Resolved: Never Again, will be dedicated in Sandra Ludwig’s memory.
In the News
The University of Virginia has paused a student run guide service that provides two kinds of tours to prospective students and visitors - admissions and historical tours - due to concerns over quality and consistency. Timing and a lack of transparency has caused controversy as it comes just two months after Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s appointees took control of the governing board of trustees holding 13 or the 17 seats. The Jefferson Council, a conservative alumni group, has criticized the tours as “radical” and too critical of Thomas Jefferson. The President and co-founder of that group, Bert Ellis was recently appointed to the Board of Visitors. The halting of not just admissions but also the historic tours has raised concerns, according to The Daily Progress. A former guide told the paper, “The fact that historical tours were stopped at the same time as the admission tours is what concerns us, because admissions has nothing to do with historical tours.” The admission tours follow a strict framework that included making some “historical stops,” such as “standing on the Lawn, for instance, they might tell visitors how the school was constructed. Some guides, they said, would touch on the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers and how it is the result of student activism.” Historian Niya Bates called the University out on X writing that “UGS has been widely celebrated for adding the history of slavery and enslaved people - some my ancestors - to tours of UVA grounds. This is not about their performance, it’s about censorship.” The editors of the student paper have asked the university for more information and leaders of the guide service have committed to working with the university to reinstate volunteers next semester “so long as this relationship does not harm our ability to share an honest and complete account of U.Va. and its history.”
Upcoming Events
View the Historic Alexandria Calendar
New Exhibit: Reframing the Black Image
Alexandria Black History Museum
Now on view
Head to the Alexandria Black History Museum to learn more about Moss H. Kendrix, known as the “Father of Black PR.” Kendrix's pioneering work on groundbreaking campaigns and enduring influence on consumer culture are currently on exhibition.
A Conversation with Author Jim Wallis on Faith & Democracy
Thurs. Sept. 26, 7 p.m.
Lettie Pate Evans Room at the Virginia Theological Seminary
3737 Seminary Road, Alexandria, Va.
Reserve your free tickets here
Rev. Jim Wallis will speak about the impact white christian nationalism has had on American politics and the role it has played in the current national crisis. Wallis will also explore how people of faith can protect democracy and enhance justice. In the tradition of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the anti-Nazi German pastor who wrote about Christianity’s role in the secular world, Wallis’ book False White Gospel details the assault on and endangerment of U.S. institutions, voting rights and minorities. Wallis provides examples of ways that people of faith can fight back and protect democracy and our neighbors. This free program is for people of all faiths and those of none - it is for anyone who cares about justice, equality and our diverse community’s well-being. The Letti Pate Evans Room is on the lower level of the Addison Academic Building on the Virginia Theological Seminary Campus. Enter off of Seminary Road, parking will be available near the event.
Volunteer Opportunity
Consider joining our newest committee, the ACRP Schools and Libraries Action Committee, to fight hate, censorship, and book bans while supporting students, teachers, and librarians in Alexandria and Virginia. Learn more and sign up here.
Upcoming Committee Meetings
Alexandria Community Remembrance Project Steering Committee will meet Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 5 p.m. at Alexandria Black History Museum.
Alexandria Community Remembrance Project Schools & Libraries Action Committee will meet for the first time on Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Charles E. Beatley Jr. Central Library Large Meeting Room.
Past Committee Meetings
The Alexandria Community Remembrance Project Steering Committee met on Aug. 6 at 5 p.m. at the Alexandria Black History Museum. The discussion centered on plans for the Benjamin Thomas Remembrance, the upcoming screening and fundraising event on Sept. 21 and a future pilgrimage for ACHS students.
Alexandria Community Remembrance Project
The Alexandria Community Remembrance Project (ACRP) is a city-wide initiative dedicated to helping Alexandria understand its history of racial terror hate crimes and to work toward creating a welcoming community bound by equity and inclusion.
In Memoriam
Write "ACRP" in Comments on the donation form.
Office of Historic Alexandria
City of Alexandria, Virginia
ACRP@alexandriava.gov