Alexandria Hospital: Women Mobilize the Community

Through the lens of women’s activism, Alexandria Hospital: Women Mobilize the Community, marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Alexandria Infirmary – today’s INOVA Alexandria Hospital.
Page updated on November 21, 2024 at 9:26 AM
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Alexandria Hospital: Women Mobilize the Community

Alexandria Hospital, Duke Street 2018
Alexandria Hospital, Duke Street 1918.

Alexandria History Museum at The Lyceum
Exhibit closed March 31, 2024

Health care in Alexandria took a big step forward when a dynamic group of Alexandria women led by Julia Johns met to organize the Infirmary in December 1872. Through their efforts, townspeople were no longer required to go to Richmond or Washington to receive hospital care. The first purpose-built hospital facility was built in 1917 on the 700 block of Duke Street thanks to donations funding operating rooms, wards, and other facilities. Since then the hospital has lead the way in it has been a leader in healthcare from its nursing school to its oncology program. 

Celebrating 150 years, Alexandria Hospital has been helping residents heal and feel better. This exhibit highlighted the civic-minded women and organizations that founded and supported the Hospital, as well as the services provided to the white and black community over the past 150 years. Donations were critical to the success of the hospital in the early 20th century. In 1917, food and financial donations were needed to administer and support operations in the new hospital building, located on the 700 block of Duke Street.

Alexandria Hospital in "Out of the Attic"

“Out of the Attic” is published each week in the Alexandria Times newspaper. These articles appear with the permission of the Alexandria Times and were authored by staff of the Office of Historic Alexandria and invited guests.

Oral Histories with TWIG and the Board of Lady Managers

Alexandria Legacies, the Alexandria Oral History Program, was developed through the City of Alexandria’s Office of Historic Alexandria in the early 1980s. Today, staff and volunteers are actively conducting interviews and preparing transcriptions. Oral history broadens the study of the past in areas where there are no written documents or physical artifacts.

TWIG, The Junior Auxiliary of Inova Alexandria Hospital


Board of Lady Managers