Alexandria's ​Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery Honored For 10th Anniversary

ALEXANDRIA, VA — The City of Alexandria is planning to mark the 10th anniversary of a refurbished cemetery honoring African Americans who died during the Civil War.

The Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery Memorial at 1001 S. Washington St. was dedicated about 10 years ago. The 10th anniversary event on Sept. 6 and 7 will honor the cemetery's history and the late Lillie Finklea and her friend Louise Massoud, who created the Friends of Freedmen’s Cemetery.

According to the city, the Freedmen’s Cemetery site was set up by the Union military in 1864 during the Civil War. More than 1,700 freed and formerly enslaved African Americans who died in Alexandria were buried in the cemetery during and after the war. Many were escaping bondage in Maryland and Virginia and sought protection from Union soldiers. The cemetery's name references "contrabands of war," or the African Americans who escaped to freedom in Union-controlled areas.

The cemetery fell into disrepair before being restored and rededicated in 2007. The Friends of Freedmen’s Cemetery had been founded in 1997 with the intent of restoring the cemetery. According to the group, the cemetery was covered by a gas station and office building until 2007.

As the Woodrow Wilson Bridge was being constructed nearby, mitigation funds supported the cemetery's archaeological work and construction. Archaeological work found at least identifiable graves. About 900 of the 1,700 Civil War era graves were estimated to remain at the site.

In 2014, the Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery Memorial opened on the site to honor the freed and formerly enslaved African Americans buried in the cemetery. The cemetery is on the National Register of Historic Places, Virginia Landmarks Register, and the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

There will be a mix of free and ticketed events to commemorate the 10th anniversary. On Saturday, Sept. 7, the public can attend a free candlelight vigil and wreath laying at Freedmen's Cemetery starting at 8 p.m. Shuttles from the Lee Center (1108 Jefferson St., Alexandria, VA) will be offered starting at 7:30 p.m.

On Friday, Sept. 6, take a bus tour of pre-Civil War era African American churches and sites in Alexandria from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The tour will begin and end at the Alexandria Black History Museum. The tour costs $50 per person and includes a boxed lunch.

On Saturday, Sept. 7 at 12 p.m., a 10th anniversary luncheon will be held at Hotel AKA Alexandria, 625 First St., Alexandria, VA. The luncheon will feature speakers honoring the preservation of African American history. The keynote speaker is Pastor Michelle Thomas, who has worked with the NAACP in Loudoun County, uncovered a history of lynching in Loudoun County and worked to preserve historic Black cemeteries. The event costs $75 per person.

Saturday's other event is a bus tour from Arlington House from 3 p.m .to 5 p.m. Arlington House, a memorial to George Washington, was built by enslaved African Americans and was a working plantation. In the 60 years up to the Civil War, at least 100 enslaved African Americans lived and worked at Arlington House. The National Park Service provides a story on the Lee and Custis families who owned the estate and the enslaved people, including the Syphax, Burke, Parks, Branham, and Gray families. Steve Hammond, a descendant of the Syphax family who is a genealogist and family historian, will lead the presentation and discussion along with National Park Service guides. The tour will leave from and return to Hotel AKA Alexandria. The cost is $50 per person.