In Memoriam 2025: Joseph McCoy April 23, 1897

The City of Alexandria’s Community Remembrance Project invited Alexandrians to join in the remembrance of Joseph McCoy, a black teenage resident who was killed by a lynch mob at the corner of Lee and Cameron Streets in 1897.
Page updated on April 15, 2025 at 11:16 AM
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The 2025 Remembrance

McCoy wreath close-up with ribbon "Joseph McCoy April 23, 1897" (2021)

"Between History and Hope"
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
6-7:30 p.m.
Roberts Memorial United Methodist Church
606 S. Washington Street, Alexandria, Va.
Free 

In Remembrance of Joseph McCoy join the Alexandria Community Remembrance Project (ACRP) at Roberts Memorial United Methodist Church, the home church for the McCoy family, to hear an address by leading scholar Robert P. Jones. The New York Times Best Selling author of The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and the Path to a Shared American Future, and President of the Public Religion Research Institute, Jones’ remarks will focus on the place we now find ourselves, “Between History and Hope.”  We also look forward to hearing from Mayor Alyia Gaskins at this city-wide recognition and remembrance of the 1897 lynching of Alexandria native Joseph McCoy. Remarks will be followed by a book signing in the Fellowship Hall. Books will be available for purchase at the event. 

Please note Roberts Memorial United Methodist Church does not have a parking lot. Parking is available on side streets and behind Demaine Funeral Home on the corner of Gibbon and Washington Street. 

Also view the earlier Memorial pages, from 2020 through 2024.

Remembrance Activity: Sites of Reflection

Visit the old police station doors on the Fairfax Street side (100 N. Fairfax) of City Hall and listen to the story of the night Joseph McCoy was taken from a cell in the building. Then walk to the corner of Cameron and Lee Streets to hear the rest of the story and reflect on what society is capable of when the rule of law is ignored and people give in to fear. 

From April 16 to 27, the public was invited to visit these significant sites and to listen to two short audio recordings. If you were unable to participate, you may now listen to the recordings below.

Rose Dawson reads about the attack and abduction of Joseph McCoy. (4:40 Min.)
RaAlim Shabazz describes the night a lynch mob formed and killed Joseph McCoy. (2:12 Min.)

The Lynching of Joseph H. McCoy: A Narrative

Map of the events of April 23, 1897

 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

 

Alexandria Community Remembrance Project (ACRP)

ACRP is a city-wide initiative dedicated to helping Alexandria understand its history, including incidents of racial injustice and terror, because recognizing the truth is necessary to establish a welcoming and just community for all. 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. 

Joseph McCoy and Benjamin Thomas are the only two documented Alexandria lynchings so far. McCoy was lynched on April 23, 1897; two years later, Thomas was lynched on August 8, 1899.