The City Of Alexandria Remembers Anniversary Of 1899 Lynching Of Benjamin Thomas

Press release from the City of Alexandria:

Aug 2, 2021 at 8:41 AM

The City of Alexandria invites the community to join in the remembrance of Benjamin Thomas, a black teenager who was killed by a lynch mob at the corner of S. Fairfax and King Streets, on August 8, 1899. The City has planned the following related events:

The nonprofit Equal Justice Institute’s (EJI) National Memorial for Peace and Justice includes more than 800 steel monuments, one for each city or county in the United States where a racial terror-related lynching took place. The lynching victims’ names are engraved on the pillars. A field of identical monuments is in a park adjacent to the memorial.

Visit alexandriava.gov/Historic for more information about Alexandria’s EJI Community Remembrance Project, future programming, the history of lynching in Alexandria, answers to frequently asked questions, and to sign up for the monthly newsletter.

For inquiries from the news media only, contact Kelly Gilfillen, Acting Director, Office of Communications and Public Information at kelly.gilfillen@alexandriava.gov or 571.208.9001.

For reasonable disability accommodation, contact Nicole.Quinn@alexandriava.gov or 703.746.4554, Virginia Relay 711.

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This news release is available at alexandriava.gov/123547.

This press release was produced by the City of Alexandria. The views expressed here are the author’s own.