March on Washington 50th Anniversary Commemoration
Film screening and Walking Tours in Alexandria

Film Screening Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Walking Tours, Thursday, August 29, 2013 

2013 marks two major milestones in Alexandria’s African American heritage: the 50th anniversary of the “March on Washington” on August 28, 1963, and the 100th birthday of attorney/Civil Rights activist Samuel Tucker on June 18, 1913. Commemorate these events at two special programs that recognize Alexandria’s early prominence in the Civil rights movement. On Wednesday, August 28, the actual anniversary of the Washington march, the Alexandria Black History Museum will present several screenings of the full version of the 50-minute film Out of Obscurity that highlights the August 1939 peaceful sit-in demonstration, organized by Samuel Tucker at the Alexandria Library. The film will be shown hourly at 1, 2, 3, and 4 p.m., and there is no admission charge to the museum. Videotape copies of the film will also be available for purchase at the special reduced price of $1.00. 

On Thursday, August 29 the Virginia Tech School of Public and International Affairs and Alexandria Black History Museum will co-sponsor a special walking tour of important Alexandria sites associated with attorney Samuel Wilbur Tucker, a local Civil Rights hero who changed Alexandria and helped transform American Democracy. Join Virginia Tech Associate Professor Matthew Dull for a one-hour tour that traces Tucker’s lifetime fight for equality in the city, based on his statement “I became involved in the Civil Rights movement in Alexandria on June 18, 1913. I was born black!” The tour will be offered twice, at 12:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Thursday, August 29 and is free of charges. Participants should meet in front of the Alexandria Library, Kate W. Barrett Branch, 717 Queen Street, Alexandria to begin the tour, which will end several blocks away at the Alexandria Black History Museum, 902 Wythe Street. (Please note: The Museum will NOT be open after the 7 p.m. tour). For more information, please visit www.alexblackhistory.org or call 703.746.4356.