For Immediate Release: August 4, 2026
Media Contact: Jeanene Harris, Office of Historic Alexandria, jeanene.harris@alexandriava.gov
The City of Alexandria Invites the Community to an Evening in Remembrance of Benjamin Thomas
Alexandria, Va. - The Alexandria Community Remembrance Project invites the public to a conversation about Civil Rights in Uncertain Times with Deputy General Counsel for the NAACP, Myesha Braden. The evening in remembrance of Benjamin Thomas will also feature music by Charles E. Miller and remarks from Mayor Alyia Gaskins. The hour-long program begins at 7 p.m. at Shiloh Baptist Church (1401 Jamieson Ave), on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026 (1401 Jamieson Ave). Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Event Details
“Civil Rights in Uncertain Times” a Conversation with Myesha Braden, Deputy General Counsel for the NAACP
- Date: Friday, Aug. 28, 2026
- Time: 7 to 8 p.m.
- Location: Shiloh Baptist Church, 1401 Jamieson Ave.
- Cost: Free
We are again living through a time when civil and political liberties that were thought to be settled law are under assault. Masked armed men roam Minnesota streets and intimidate commuters in the District on the Fourth of July; the 14th and 15th Amendments are ignored; the Supreme Court has gutted the Voting Rights Act; and the White House has ordered a warning label for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of History. So, let's talk about it.
“Civil Rights in Uncertain Times” is hosted by Myesha Braden with music by Charles E. Miller. Deputy General Counsel Braden, a Tulane Law Graduate, has spent her entire career working on civil rights. She has served in leadership positions at the Department of Justice, in the Obama White House, and in the nonprofit world. Mr. Miller, a performer and educator, has performed genres from classical to gospel with the Washington National Opera and the Maryland Lyric Opera.
In addition to the Remembrance program, the historic Shiloh Baptist Church at 1400 Duke Street, the site of Benjamin Thomas’s 1899 memorial and mass meeting will be open for visitors from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. The Freedom House Museum at 1315 Duke Street that played a central role in the domestic slave trade, will be open until 6:30 p.m.
About Benjamin Thomas and the Alexandria Community Remembrance Project
On Tues. Aug. 8, 1899, Benjamin Thomas, a native Alexandrian who was just 16 years old was lynched in Alexandria at the corner of Fairfax and King Streets after being dragged a half mile from the jail on Princess and St. Asaph Streets. Accused by his next-door neighbor’s seven-year-old daughter of assault, Benjamin was arrested on the child’s testimony alone. He never wavered in his assertion of his innocence. In the aftermath, both Black and white Alexandrians believed him. News of his murder, after local Black leadership warned authorities of a threat to lynch him, caused work stoppages around the region.
On Mon. Aug. 28, 1899, more than 600 people attended a mass meeting at Shiloh Baptist Church memorialize Benjamin Thomas and to protest his lynching. At the packed event, leaders from churches in Alexandria and D.C. called for an economic boycott of any business associated with those who took part in the lynch mob.
The Alexandria Community Remembrance Project (ACRP) is a city-wide initiative dedicated to helping Alexandria understand our shared history in an effort to create a welcoming community and culture of belonging.
About the Office of Historic Alexandria
The Office of Historic Alexandria preserves and shares the history of the City of Alexandria with eight museums, historic sites, archives, archaeology, tours, exhibits, and public programs. Through powerful storytelling and confronting the City’s past, Historic Alexandria enriches the present and inspires the future. We enhance the quality of life for residents and visitors and serve as a partner in the City’s equity and inclusion initiatives. For more information, visit alexandriava.gov/Historic.
If you prefer communication in another language, free interpretation and translation services are available to you, please email LanguageAccess@alexandriava.gov or call 703-746-3960.
For reasonable disability accommodation, contact Nicole Quinn at historicalexandria@alexandriava.gov or call 703.746.4554, Virginia Relay 711.
###