Alexandria's Freedom House Boosted By Grant

ALEXANDRIA, VA—An Alexandria historic site that once housed the largest 19th century slave trading operation in the U.S. is getting a significant contribution for preservation efforts. The city announced Freedom House will receive a $50,000 planning grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation's new African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund for preserving the site.

Freedom House is one of 16 recipients receiving a total of $1 million to protect and restore African American historic sites and uncover the stories connected to the sites.

"The site was once a slave pen, where five successive companies profited from the sale of more than 10,000 enslaved men, women, and children," said Gretchen Bulova, acting director of the City’s Office of Historic Alexandria, in a statement. "Preserving Freedom House is critical to ensuring that the stories of these African Americans, and their role in the history of Alexandria and the nation, are fully told."

The historic site one of the last remnants of the slave trading business in the U.S. and had ties to Solomon Northup, author of "Twelve Years a Slave," which became an Oscar-winning film. Around a million enslaved African-American women, men and children passed through Freedom House between 1828 and 1861 until Union troops occupied Alexandria in mid-1861.

The Northern Virginia Urban League acquired Freedom House in 1996, dedicating it to Rev. Henry Louis Bailey, a former slave that returned to Alexandria and founded several churches and schools in Virginia. Earlier this year, City Council approved a plan to loan $63,000 to NVUL after the group had been struggling to make the mortgage payments. In return, the city is operating the site through December with expanded hours, staffing and exhibits in partnership with NVUL.

The city hopes to add the site to its variety of museums and historic sites and teach visitors about slavery and the African-American experience in the early days of Alexandria.

The museum is open to visitors Saturdays and Sundays from 1 p.m.-5 p.m. and includes a basement exhibit, which was part of the original slave trading firm, and first-person accounts of enslaved people. Admission is $5.

Freedom House is located at 1315 Duke Street. For more information, visit Freedom House's website.

Image via Visit Alexandria