Genealogist and Alexandria Living Legend Char McCargo Bah didn’t have a lot of leads to go on when it came to finding the family of a man murdered in Alexandria over 125 years ago.
Joseph McCoy was lynched by a mob in Alexandria in 1897. In recent years, Alexandria has worked to commemorate the brutal murder of McCoy and other lynchings in the city as part of a nationwide initiative.
At a lecture later this month, Bah will discuss the process of finding McCoy’s family. According to the city:
Genealogist Char McCargo Bah will share how she, the official genealogist for the Alexandria Community Remembrance Project, discovered the family of the first of Alexandria’s lynching victims, Joseph McCoy, who was lynched in Alexandria on April 23, 1897. Learn the secrets to investigating a family tree that does not have many leads.
The lecture is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 25, at the Black History Museum (902 Wythe Street). The event is free but has limited capacity.