"We must always remember the sacrifices of those laid to rest here."
Lillie Finklea, President, Friends of Freedmen's Cemetery

Freedmen's Cemetery is situated in the vicinity of Washington and Church Streets in Alexandria. The cemetery is the resting place of more than 1,800 freed slaves and African-American Union soldiers who died between 1864 and 1868. Most of the slaves buried there are women and children.

Burials in the cemetery ceased in 1869, and since then the exact location of the cemetery has long been a mystery. The whitewashed, wooden grave markers that once identified the site have passed long since into history.

The property changed ownership many times in the intervening years. At one point, an owner had the site rezoned for commercial use, and in 1956 a gasoline station was built on part of the site. A Church Street office building behind the gas station was constructed during the 1960s, and also likely covers part of the cemetery.

To ensure that the Project improvements do not encroach on this significant historic property, archaeological investigations were conducted to define the cemetery's exact boundaries. The Project has located the southern and western extent of the cemetery, which are both within property owned by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). Approximately 45 graves were located in this area. While these investigations focused on identifying the cemetery boundaries and locating the individual graves, none of the burials were excavated but rather recorded and preserved in place. An additional 29 graves were located on property running along Washington Street, owned by the City of Alexandria. Several of these graves extended under Washington Street itself.

The Project will not disturb Freedmen's Cemetery and, in conformance with the 1997 project Memorandum of Agreement, has plans to commemorate the long-forgotten location. The Project Team worked with the Friends of Freedmen's Cemetery and the City of Alexandria to establish a fitting memorial to preserve the dignity of this valuable part of the City's history, and dedicated a state highway marker in September, 2000.

(Click here to learn more about the Freedmen's Cemetery)

A RE-DEDICATION OF THE ALEXANDRIA FREEDMEN'S CEMETERY
Saturday, May 12, 2007
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
1001 South Washington & Church Streets

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