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In Memoriam: Joseph McCoy April 23, 1897
The Alexandria Community Remembrance Project (ACRP) invites the public to a community reflection on Saturday, April 23 at 3 p.m. at Market Square to mark the 125th year since Joseph McCoy was brutally lynched.
At the remembrance event, community members will belatedly recognize Alexandria’s responsibility for the lynching of Joseph McCoy and the racial terror that it spread throughout the African American community. As we attempt to reconcile our past with our present, we recall the words of Maya Angelou,
“History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.”
On a Thursday evening in April,1897, an 18-year-old African American boy - born and raised in Alexandria – Joseph McCoy- was accused by his employer, arrested by police, and locked in a cell at the Alexandria Station House (located at today’s City Hall). Within a few hours, a white mob violently attacked the station house, dragged the young man away and hanged him from a gas lamp post on the corner of Lee and Cameron Streets. It was just after 1 a.m. on Friday, April 23. No one came to his aid, and no one was held accountable.
This weekend, learn more about Joseph McCoy, pay your respects at the lynching location, and view the remembrance marker. City Hall will be illuminated in purple, the color of mourning, throughout the weekend. It is our hope that this April 23, 2022 memorialization will provide belated accountability, reconciliation and respect for Joseph McCoy.
The City of Alexandria is committed to the accurate dissemination of its history. The murder of Joseph McCoy is recognized as a terrible chapter in Alexandria’s past. To fight injustice and to keep the memory of Alexandria’s lynching victims alive, you are invited to participate in the Alexandria Community Remembrance Project (ACRP).
ACRP is a city-wide initiative dedicated to helping Alexandria understand its history of racial terror hate crimes. ACRP conducts research, education, programs, and events that remember Joseph McCoy and Benjamin Thomas and explores the long-term impacts upon Alexandria’s African American community. Working with the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) Remembrance Project, ACRP will receive a steel pillar that memorializes McCoy and Thomas and with it will create a permanent space for remembrance in Alexandria City. The work of ACRP is an effort to establish a welcoming community bound by equity and inclusion for all people.
The 2022 memorial includes this In Memoriam page. Also view the 2021 and 2020 In Memoriam pages. and read the ACRP Newsletter for more information.
A Community Reflection
Saturday, April 23 at 3 p.m.
Market Square
The Alexandria Community Remembrance Project (ACRP) invited the public to mark the 125th year since Joseph McCoy was brutally lynched, through a community reflection on Saturday, April 23 at 3 p.m. at Market Square.
At the remembrance event, community members will belatedly recognize the lynching of Joseph McCoy and the terror it spread throughout the African American community. In addition, Alexandria will memorialize the life of Joseph McCoy and take responsibility for these acts of racial terror, as we attempt to reconcile our past with our present.
The Remembrance Ceremony
The Program
Oh Freedom, Beulah Baptist Church Choir, Led by Gregory Nichols, Choir Director
Welcome, Reverend Professor Quadricos B. Driskell, Beulah Baptist Church
Remarks
- Justin Wilson, Mayor of Alexandria
- Proclamation
- Don Hayes, Chief of Police
- Bryan Porter, Commonwealth's Attorney
- Yahney-Marie Sangaré, Vice President of the Black Student Union, Alexandria City High School
"To Bring Justice Near," Zeina Azzam, Poet Laureate of Alexandria
Come By Here My Lord, Beulah Baptist Church Choir
Eulogy for Joseph McCoy, Reverend James G. Daniely, Roberts Memorial United Methodist Church
Significance of the Stone, Rabbi David Spinrad, Beth El Hebrew Congregation
Procession to the lynching site, corner of Cameron and N. Lee Streets, led by McArthur Myers, WPM, Worshipful Grand Historian, Universal Lodge #1
Thank You Lord, Beulah Baptist Church Choir
Closing Remarks, Reverend Professor Quardricos B. Driskell
Photo credit, Jeff Hancock Photography
The Illumination
View City Hall, the old Station House Door, the lamp post, and George Washington Masonic Memorial at night as these landmarks will be illuminated in purple, the color of mourning, throughout the weekend to provide belated accountability, reconciliation, and respect for Joseph McCoy.
Photo credit, Jeff Hancock Photography
Lynched in Alexandria
April 23, 1897
Illumination of City Hall, 2022
Sign in doorway of former police station, 2022
Lynched in Alexandria
April 23, 1897
Illumination of City Hall, 2022
Sign in doorway of former police station, 2022
A Proclamation In honor of Joseph McCoy
This Proclamation was presented by City Council on April 5, 2022.
Read the full text of the Proclamation
.
WHEREAS, The events began on April 22, 1897, when Richard Lacy accused Joseph McCoy, an African American teenager ...
... WHEREAS, Joseph McCoy was pulled from his cell and dragged to the South East corner of Cameron and Lee Streets....
... WHEREAS, The City of Alexandria condemns these acts and apologizes for its lynching history. The city seeks to lay bare past inequities, expose our troubled racial history, and to bear witness to these atrocities. Alexandria is committed to restorative justice, so our community emerges stronger and more inclusive. In this way, the deaths of Joseph McCoy and Benjamin Thomas will never be forgotten.
To Bring Justice Near -- a poem for Joseph McCoy
On the Commemoration of the Lynching of Joseph McCoy in Alexandria, Virginia, on April 23, 1897
(c) Zeina Azzam, Poet Laureate of the City of Alexandria, Virginia, April 23, 2022
A Black man was lynched in our city, here,
where a white mob savagely had its way.
We must face history, bring justice near.
He lived on Alfred Street, age eighteen years,
grew up when harsh Jim Crow laws ruled the day.
A Black man was lynched in our city, here.
Together let’s say his name, bare our tears.
We lift up Joseph McCoy, and we pray:
We must face history, bring justice near.
The trauma from racial hate is severe,
remains till now, unless we change our ways.
A Black man was lynched in our city, here.
No one was tried for his murder; it’s clear
that this son of our city was betrayed.
We must face history, bring justice near.
Let’s educate our youth, open eyes, ears,
so inhumanity is not replayed.
A Black man was lynched in our city, here.
We must face history, bring justice near.
The Lynching of Joseph H. McCoy: A Narrative
The full account of this hate crime was methodically researched in 2020 by the 13-member Research Committee of the Alexandria Community Remembrance Project.
The Lynching of Joseph H. McCoy, April 23, 1897
In the News
Joseph McCoy, Alexandria Community Remembrance Project. Alexandria Times, April 21, 2022.
Joseph McCoy, Alexandria Community Remembrance Project Alexandria Times, April 21, 2022
Commemorating the lynching of Joseph McCoy. Alexandria Times, April 21, 2022.
Commemorating the lynching of Joseph McCoy . Alexandria Times, April 21, 2022
Out of the Attic: Lynching of McCoy Condoned By Alexandria. Alexandria Times, April 21, 2022.
Lynching of McCoy Condoned By Alexandrians by Tiffany Pache, Out of the Attic, The Alexandria Times, April 21, 2022.
125th Anniversary of Lynching of Joseph McCoy, Alexandria Gazette Packet, April 21, 2022
125th Anniversary of Lynching of Joseph McCoy Alexandria Gazette Packet, April 21, 2022.
The Lynching of Joseph McCoy125 Years On, Alexandria Gazette Packet, May 5, 2022
The Lynching of Joseph McCoy125 Years On . Op-Ed by Audrey P. Davis, Director, Alexandria Black History Museum. Alexandria Gazette Packet, May 5, 2021, page 6.
This year's McCoy remembrance, Alexandria Times, May 12, 2022
This year's McCoy remembrance . Editorial by Audrey P. Davis, Director, Alexandria Black History Museum, Alexandria Times, May 12, 2022, pp. 19-20.
Social Justice Reading List for 2022
About the Reading List
Here are is a Social Justice Reading List, provided by the City of Alexandria Library staff. We hope you will find these additional selections educational, and moving. These titles - both fiction and nonfiction - provide context for discussion of race, class, violence and American society.
See also:
Readings for Adults
Biography
- Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the struggle for equality – Omiko Brown-Nagin
Non-Fiction
- Between the World and Me – Ta'Nehesi Coates
- Blackballed: The Black Vote and US Democracy – Darryl Pinckney
- Don't Call Us Dead – Danez Smith
- Driving While Black: African American travel and the road to civil rights – Gretchen Sullivan Sorin
- "Ebony & Ivory: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America's Universities" – Craig Wilder
- Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower – Brittney Cooper
- Fear of black consciousness – Lewis R Gordon
- For White Folks Who Teach in the 'Hood... and the Rest of Y'all Too – Christopher Emdin
- Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women that a Movement Forgot – Mikki Kendall
- How to Be An Antiracist – Ibram X. Kendi
- Men We Reaped: A Memoir – Jessmyn Ward
- Of blood and sweat : Black lives and the making of White power and wealth – Clyde Ford
- Of Poetry & Protest: From Emmitt Till to Trayvon Martin – Philip Cushway
- Overground railroad: the Green book and the roots of black travel in America – Candacy A. Tracy
- "Racism, not race: answers to frequently asked questions" – Joseph L Graves
- Righteous troublemakers : untold stories of the social justice movement in America – Al Sharpton
- "Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America" – Melissa Harris-Perry
- So You Want to Talk about Race – Ijeoma Oluo
- "Social justice parenting : how to raise compassionate, anti-racist, justice-minded kids in an unjust world" – Traci Baxley
- "Stony the road: Reconstruction, white supremacy, and the rise of Jim Crow" – Henry Louis Gates Jr
- The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America – Richard Rothstein
- The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness – Michelle Alexander
- The three death sentences of Clarence Henderson: a battle for racial justice at the dawn of the Civil Rights Era – Chris Joyner
- We do this 'til we free us : abolitionist organizing and transforming justice – Mariame Kaba
- We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy – Ta'Nehesi Coates
- When They Call You Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir – Patrisse Khan-Cullors
- White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk about Race – Robin DiAngelo
Readings for Teens
Young Adult Fiction
- All American Boys – Jayson Reynolds
- Anger is a Gift – Mark Oshiro
- Dear Martin – Nic Stone
- How It Went Down – Kekla Magoon
- Light It Up – Kela Magoon
- Slay – Brittney Morris
- The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas
- I'm Not Dying with You Tonight – Kimberly Jones
- Out of Darkness – Ashley Hope Perez
- Piecing Me Together – Renee Watson
- The Good Braider – Terry Farish
Young Adult Graphic
- March Series – John Lewis
Young Adult Non-Fiction
- How I Resist – Maureen Johnson
- "Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You" – Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
- This Book is Anti-Racist – Tiffany Jewel
- We Are Not Yet Equal: Understanding Our Racial Divide – Carol Anderson
Readings for Children
Children's Board Book
- All Kinds of People – Shelley Rotner
Children’s Picture books
- All Are Welcome – Alexandria Penfold
- Auntie Luce's Talking Paintings Francie Latour
- Chocolate Me – Taye Diggs
- Hair Love – Matthew A. Cherry
- Happy in Our Skin – Fran Manushkin
- I Am Enough – Grace Byers
- I'm a Pretty Little Black Girl – Betty K. Bynum
- I'm New Here – Anne Sibley O'Brien
- Interesection Allies: We Make Room for All – Chelsea Johnson
- Let the Children March – Monica Clark-Robinson
- Mixed Me! – Taye Diggs
- Mixed: A Colorful Story – Arree Chung
- My Hair is a Garden – Cozbi A. Cabrera
- Ruth and the Green Book – Calvin A. Ramsey
- Something Happened in Our Town: A Child's Story about Racial Injustice – Marianne Celano
- Sulwe – Lupita Nyong'o
- The Day You Begin – Jacqueline Woodson
- The History of Me – Andrea Theodore
- The Other Side – Jacqueline Woodson
- Where Are You From – Yamile Saied Mendez
Children's Graphic
- New Kid – Jerry Craft
Children’s Fiction
- A Good Kind of Trouble – Lisa Ramee
- Betty before X – Ilyasah Shabazz
- "Black Brother, Black Brother" – Jewell Parker Rhodes
- Blended – Sharon M. Draper
- "But, Not Buddy" – Christopher Paul Curtis
- Ghost Boys – Jewell Parker Rhodes
- Harbor Me – Jacqueline Woodson
- One Crazy Summer – Rita Williams-Garcia
- Required reading for the disenfranchised freshman – Kristen Lee
- Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry – Mildred D. Taylor
- Stella by Starlight – Sharon M. Draper
- The Only Black Girls in Town – Brandy Colbert
- The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963 – Christopher Paul Curtis
- What Lane? – Torrey Maldonado
Children's Biography
- Brown Girl Dreaming – Jacqueline Woodson
- Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library – Carole Boston Weatherford
- "Sweet justice: Georgia Gilmore and the Montgomery Bus Boycott – Mara Rockliff
Children’s Non-fiction
- Be the Change: The Future Is in Your Hands – Eunice Moyle
- Black Girl Magic: A Poem – Mahogany L. Browne
- Black Women Who Dared – Naomi M. Moyer
- "Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship" – Irene Latham
- Changing the Equation: 50+ Black Women in STEM – Tony Bolden
- Have I ever told you Black lives matter – Shani King
- Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters – Andrea Davis Pinkney
- Let's Talk About Race – Julius Lester
- Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History – Vashti Harrison
- Little Legends: Exceptional Black Men in History – Vashti Harrison
- Lizzie Demands a Seat! Elizabeth Jennings Fights for Streetcar Rights – Beth Anderson
- Not My Idea: A Book about Whiteness – Anastasia Higginbotham
- Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters – Barack Obama
- Protest Movements: Then and Now – Eric Braun
- Raise Your Voice: 12 Protests that Shaped America – Jeffrey Kluger
- Rise Up! The Art of Protest – Jo Rippon
- Separate no more : the long road to Brown v. Board of Education – Lawrence Goldstone
- "Stamped (for kids) : racism, antiracism, and you" – Sonja Cherry-Paul
- Standing Up Against Hate: How Black Women in the Army Helped Change WWII – Mary Cronk Farrell
- The Little Book of Little Activists – Bob Bland
- The March Against Fear – Anne Bausum
- The Power Book – Claire Saunders
- The Undefeated – Kwame Alexander
- "We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices" – Wade Hudson
- What is anti-racism? – Hedreich Nichols
- What's Racism – Amy B. Rogers
- "When the schools shut down : a young girl's story of Virginia's ""lost generation"" and the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision" – Yolanda Gladden
- You are Mighty: A Guide to Changing the World – Caroline Paul
- "Young, Gifted, and Black" – Jamia Wilson