Post Content

Second Wreath Placed for Alexandria Lynching Victim, First Wreath Stolen

Last month, Alexandria residents and city leaders honored the legacy of Joseph McCoy by placing a wreath at the location of his lynching at the corner of Cameron and Lee Streets in Old Town. Within 36 hours, that wreath was stolen, and on Saturday a group of determined residents placed a new wreath at the site.

“Mr. McCoy was killed, murdered, by the act of hate,” MacArthur Myers told ALXnow. “We can’t bring him back, but we can be a voice for him from now on. God has given us two powerful words to express emotion — hate and love. Let the healing begin with love, which is so much more powerful.”

More than a dozen residents attended the brief ceremony. The 19-year-old McCoy was arrested without a warrant and then murdered 123 years ago, on April 23, 1897, by a mob of white residents who stormed the Police House (now City Hall), where McCoy was being held after being accused of sexually assaulting three women. He was shot, stabbed and hanged from a lamppost.

McCoy’s death is one of two lynchings that took place in Alexandria. The other was 20-year-old Benjamin Thomas, who was shot to death and hanged the following year by a mob of residents at Fairfax Street near King Street.

No one was arrested for their deaths.

McCoy and Thomas have been included in the Equal Justice Initiative Community Remembrance Project. Their names have been added to a steel pillar representing lynchings that occurred in the city — just one of more than 800 pillars representing 4,743 terror lynching victims around the country.

Since last year, the city has been in the process of bringing its EJI pillar home from Montgomery, Alabama.

A week ago we marked the 123rd anniversary of the lynching of Alexandria teenager Joseph McCoy. We placed a wreath at…

Posted by Maddy McCoy on Saturday, May 2, 2020

Recent Stories

Port City’s Optimal Wit, its most iconic beer, took home the gold medal at the World Beer Cup. The World Beer Cup is an international beer competition hosted by the…

Say hello to the sweetest pup ever, Starla Rose! This 5 year-old hound dog is up for adoption through the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria and enjoys walks that include…

Alexandria’s biggest giving day has done it again. On Wednesday, ACT for Alexandria raised $2.9 million for 188 nonprofits. The final tally will keep changing as donations will continue on…

Crumbl Cookies is coming to Alexandria’s Bradlee Shopping Center. There have been reports of the cookie store coming to the Bradlee Shopping Center for years, but construction is finally underway….

For many remote workers, a messy home is distracting.

You’re getting pulled into meetings, and your unread emails keep ticking up. But you can’t focus because pet hair tumbleweeds keep floating across the floor, your desk has a fine layer of dust and you keep your video off in meetings so no one sees the chaos behind you.

It’s no secret a dirty home is distracting and even adds stress to your life. And who has the energy to clean after work? That’s why it’s smart to enlist the help of professionals, like Well-Paid Maids.

Read More

Submit your own Community Post here.

Monarch Montessori School is now enrolling infants, toddlers and three year-olds for its full-time Montessori program. We offer a seamless enrollment process which involves submitting an application for review, paying the enrollment fee and submitting the remaining enrollment materials before your proposed start date.

At Monarch Montessori School, we aim to provide an authentic Montessori learning experience. At our Alexandria location, we currently have 8 openings in our Primary classroom (ages 3-6), and 6 openings in our Toddler classroom. Additionally, there are 3 infant openings at this time.

Our first floor space is an open concept. Infants and toddlers share the same large classroom. Children ages 3-6 are in two classrooms on our second floor. Each classroom has one lead and assistant guide. We offer a year-round program, with intermittent breaks for Spring Break and Winter Break.

Read More

Submit your own Community Post here.

Scholarship Fund of Alexandria Annual Gala & Auction

Do good while having a good time at the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria’s 38th Annual Gala and Auction at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center. The fun begins with a 2-hour open bar reception while mingling with 499 other Alexandrians who

×

Subscribe to our mailing list