[Archived] City of Alexandria Celebrates Women’s History Month

­­For Immediate Release: March 2, 2021

The City of Alexandria invites residents to participate in the virtual celebration of Women’s History Month in March. The observance had its origins as a national celebration in 1981, when Congress authorized and requested the president to proclaim the week beginning March 7, 1982, as “Women’s History Week.” 

After being petitioned by the National Women’s History Project, Congress designated the month of March 1987 as “Women’s History Month.” Since 1998, Alexandria has hosted events and honored women who have made significant contributions to the community. This year’s celebration features the following:

• Lecture on 18th Century Coffeehouse Proprietor Hannah Griffith, March 11, 7 p.m. -- Learn how Hannah Griffith used her status, experience and industriousness to make a new life for herself and her eight young children in the late 18th century. After becoming widowed, she operated the prestigious Alexandria Coffee-House, which is one of the buildings that are now part of Gadsby's Tavern Museum.

• New Wayfinding Marker -- A new wayfinding marker will be installed at the former Alexandria Custom House (SW corner of Prince & St. Asaph Streets) commemorating the Occoquan Workhouse Suffragists who were tried and convicted at that location, sponsored by Alexandria Celebrates Women.

• A New Online Exhibit “Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts” -- Learn about Alexandria’s first Girl Scout troops and the important role youth organizations have historically played in supporting girls in their formative years.

• Special Out of the Attic articles -- Out of the Attic articles will be published on women in early Alexandria history, including features on female business and property owners. Other articles will focus on the role women played in Alexandria’s historic preservation efforts in the 20th century.

• Online Spotlight of Julia Wheelock -- Julia Wheelock came to Alexandria as a nurse at the Lyceum during the Civil War. She gave a vivid account of Alexandria during the war in her book, “Boys in White, Experiences of a Hospital Agent in and Around Washington.” Wheelock’s career intersected new opportunities for women during and after the Civil War, as she came to the Washington area to nurse her wounded brother, but stayed in the area to work for the U.S. Treasury Department for eight years after the conclusion of the war.

• Social media posts highlighting Alexandrian women who have made contributions to the community -- Each Thursday in March, Historic Alexandria’s Facebook and Instagram pages will feature Alexandrian women-- of different ages, races, and eras -- who helped make a difference. 
  

Visit alexandriava.gov/Historic for a list of all events celebrating Women’s History Month.

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

For reasonable disability accommodation, contact jim.holloway@alexandriava.gov or 703.746.4994, Virginia Relay 711.