[Archived] City of Alexandria to Host Second Meeting on Equal Justice Initiative Community Remembrance Project

For Immediate Release: November 12, 2019

The City of Alexandria invites the public to attend the second in a series of community meetings on the Equal Justice Initiative’s Community Remembrance Project, on Saturday, November 16, from 1 to 3 p.m., at the Lee Center (1108 Jefferson St.). The meeting will include a presentation about African Americans living in Alexandria during the Jim Crow era; updates on the progress of efforts to memorialize the two documented lynchings in the city’s history; and Alexandria Community Remembrance Project Committee breakout discussions. The meeting is open to the public, but registration by Friday, November 15 is encouraged. 

Krystyn R. Moon, Ph.D., professor of history and director of American studies at the University of Mary Washington, will present “Navigating Everyday Life in Jim Crow Alexandria.” The presentation will be an exploration of the experiences of African Americans in Alexandria in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; how segregation affected their lives; and how they responded. Dr. Moon will also address how Alexandrians developed strategies to maintain their autonomy and demand equality, and how these actions laid the foundation for future activism in Alexandria. 

The community meeting and presentation are part of a community engagement process administered by the nonprofit Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) as part of its Community Remembrance Project. The Community Remembrance Project invites jurisdictions across the country to memorialize victims of racial terror lynchings through community engagement and activities that include claiming memorial pillars from the EJI’s National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, and installing them at the locations they represent. Alexandria is represented at the national memorial by a pillar recognizing Joseph McCoy, who was lynched in 1897, and Benjamin Thomas, who was lynched in 1899. 

For more information, including materials and video from the first community meeting, and to register for the November 16 meeting, visit the City’s Community Remembrance Project page. 

For media inquiries, contact Andrea Blackford, Senior Communications Officer, at andrea.blackford@alexandriava.gov or 703.746.3959.

For reasonable disability accommodation, contact blackhistory@alexandriava.gov or call 703.746.4356, Virginia Relay 711.