Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery Dedication

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Image courtesy of the City of Alexandria

Join Historic Alexandria in honoring Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery Memorial’s inclusion in the African American Civil Rights Network (AACRN). The free dedication will include a wreath laying by the 31st Masonic District, a reading by representatives of the United States Colored Troops (USCT), and remarks by Reverend Taft Quincey Heatley. The ceremony will take place rain or shine.

The AACRN’s collection of 57 powerful historic resources commemorate, honor, and interpret the nation’s Civil Rights Movement and the continuing struggle for racial equality. Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery is the oldest and first site in Virginia to be added to the network. In 1864, the U.S. Army established the burial ground for contrabands and freedmen, making it one of the few final resting places of its kind in the country. Shortly after, the cemetery became the site of Alexandria’s first known Civil Rights expression. Following the burial of 118 United States Colored Troops (USCT) in Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery, outraged USCT protested and petitioned for their fellow soldiers’ right to be buried at what is today Alexandria National Cemetery. As a result of their action, the soldiers were reburied in Alexandria National Cemetery.

For more information on the African American Civil Rights Network, visit https://www.nps.gov/subjects/civilrights/african-american-civil-rights-network.htm. To learn more about the history of the Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery Memorial, visit https://www.alexandriava.gov/FreedmenMemorial.