Alexandria is offering new tours, markers and more to lead residents and visitors through sites and stories highlighting African American change-makers that have shaped the history of Alexandria and the United States.
Here is a glimpse of what’s new:
- Courageous Journey: Alexandria’s Black History Self-Guided Driving Tour
Photo courtesy of Visit Alexandria
Samuel Tucker Library Sit-in
Use our eight-site driving tour, created in fall 2020, to explore the African American history that shaped Alexandria and the United States, from D.C.’s onetime southern cornerstone laid by Benjamin Banneker to the site of one of the nation’s earliest sit-ins and more.
- African American Heritage Trail
The brand-new self-guided waterfront African American Waterfront Trail highlights the people, places and neighborhoods from the time of Alexandria’s founding through the 20th century. Pull up the StoryMap on your phone as you walk the 11-stop trail, beginning at Waterfront Park and making your way northward.
- Integral Site for Legalizing Interracial Marriage
Head to the corner of King and N. Pitt St. in the heart of Old Town Alexandria to find a just-installed interpretive kiosk commemorating the 1967 Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court decision, which legalized interracial marriage throughout the United States.
Photo by R. Kennedy for Visit Alexandria
Edmonson Sisters Statue
- Duke Street Black History Trail
As one of multiple Great Walks in Alexandria, begin the Duke Street Black History Trail at Erik Blome’s Edmonson Sisters sculpture and end at the African American Heritage Park, whose centerpiece is a bronze tree sculpture onto which artist Jerome Meadows carved the names of African American citizens and sites.
- Manumission Tour Company’s New Underground Railroad Route
Photo by Chris Cruz for Visit Alexandria
Manumission Tour
Manumission Tour Company’s newest route is set to debut on November 1, 2020 and tells the story of enslaved Alexandrians who fled to freedom, based upon the writings of abolitionist William Still and his 1872 book, The Underground Railroad.
- Celebrate the Parker-Gray High School Centennial with a Statue of the NBA’s First Black Player
On October 31, 1950, Earl Lloyd made his NBA debut as the league’s first African American player. 70 years later to the day, his statue will be installed at the former site of his alma mater, Parker-Gray High School, which opened 100 years ago and is now the Charles Houston Recreation Center and home to the Alexandria African American Hall of Fame. Information on a livestream of the statue induction can be found at the African American Hall of Fame’s website.
See more here: 7 New and Must-Try Black History Experiences in Alexandria
