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Lecture this week to examine impacts of Virginia Theological Seminary’s reparations program

Published March 28, 2022 at 2:50PM

Virginia Theological Seminary (staff photo by James Cullum)

Nearly three years after Alexandria’s Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) launched a program to create reparations and research related to Black Americans enslaved or compelled to work at the school, a new lecture program this week is scheduled to look at what kind of progress has been made on that front.

On Wednesday, March 30, the Alexandria Historical Society, the Alexandria Black History Museum and the Alexandria Community Remembrance Project are hosting a virtual lecture to examine what that program has accomplished since it launched in September 2019.

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Historic marker to be placed in front of NBA trailblazer’s childhood home

By Brandi Bottalico

Published March 25, 2022 at 10:55AM

The original sculpture of Earl Lloyd at Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (Photo via City of Alexandria)

A marker will be unveiled in front of NBA trailblazer Earl Francis Lloyd’s childhood home in Alexandria.

The city announced today (Friday) that the historical state marker will be at 1020 Montgomery Street and an event will be held for its unveiling, featuring remarks from Mayor Justin Wilson, Kevin Lloyd, son of Earl Loyd, and others.

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Alexandria prepares to ‘resink’ historic ships

By Vernon Miles

Published March 17, 2022 at 2:45PM

Pieces of 18th-Century ships waiting to be scanned (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Almost exactly four years after archeologists recovered three 18th-century ships from under the Old Town Waterfront, Alexandria is planning on sending at least two of them back to Davy Jones’ Locker.

Three ships were discovered under the Robinson Landing construction site in March 2018. While the most intact of the trio was sent to Texas A&M for study and will get a new Torpedo Factory exhibit next month, the other two have sat in water tanks in the DASH bus barn. At a meeting of the Waterfront Commission, City Archaeologist Eleanor Breen said that sometime this year the city will start moving the ships out of their 12×24-foot tanks and out to Ben Brenman Pond (4800 Brenman Park Drive).

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Lee-Fendall House hosting living history event, lectures on Civil War medicine in Alexandria

By James Cullum

Published March 15, 2022 at 10:45AM

During the Civil War, the former home of Revolutionary War hero Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee was converted into a hospital for wounded Union soldiers. On Saturday (March 19), the Lee-Fendall House will briefly be converted into a hospital with living history reenactors.

The home of the former Virginia governor, and father of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, was also the site of the first-known successful blood transfusion.

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Stabler-Leadbeater hosting ‘Outlandish Tour’ to accompany season 6 premier of Outlander

By James Cullum

Published March 1, 2022 at 3:30PM

The Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum still has many of the original products that it sold throughout the 19th century (staff photo by James Cullum)

Fans of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series have another treat on Sunday (March 6) in Old Town. In addition to the season 6 premier on Sunday, there will also be an Outlandish Tour of the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum.

The Apothecary Museum is known for incorporating popular culture into their work. For years, their Harry Potter tours have been popular for potions-masters-in-the-making.

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Morning Notes

By Vernon Miles

Published February 17, 2022 at 5:00AM

A street lined with American flags in Old Town, Alexandria (staff photo by James Cullum)

George Washington birthday parade returning on Monday — “Celebrate Presidents’ Day and the first president’s 290th birthday at the George Washington Birthday Parade on Monday.” [Alexandria Times]

Study: coastal flooding to increase as seas rise 1 foot by 2050 — “Several areas in and around Alexandria are vulnerable, according to an updated interactive tool.” [Alexandria Living Magazine]

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Maryland lab uncovers more details behind an Old Town artifact

By Vernon Miles

Published February 9, 2022 at 9:50AM

X-ray of Robinson Landing South watch fob, image via Arianna Johnston/MAC Lab

An x-ray treatment of an artifact found at Robinson Terminal South has revealed more details about an artifact stuck into a strip of corrupted iron alloy.

The much smaller artifact came from the same area as the buried ships found in 2018. The artifact is a watch fob, a popular 18th and 19th-century accessory, but only part of the original piece was visible. A report by conservator Arianna Johnston from the Maryland Archeological Conservation Laboratory highlighted what their lab learned with further study.

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Fort Ward park overhaul gets a fresh timeline

By Vernon Miles

Published February 1, 2022 at 3:00PM

A man walks a dog at Fort Ward Park (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

A local working group has been making its way through plans to update and improve Fort Ward Park, and last week the project got a timeline for when the public could see some of those changes.

Following the Civil War, the fort was home to a sizable Black community that was later pushed out by the City of Alexandria in the name of obtaining park space and historical preservation of the Civil War-era fort.

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#GWCherryChallenge is back in Alexandria, and so is the George Washington Birthday Parade

By James Cullum

Published February 1, 2022 at 1:00PM

George and Martha Washington wave at the George Washington Birthday Parade in Old Town, Feb. 17, 2020 (Staff photo by James Cullum)

With the George Washington Birthday Parade Celebration coming back to Alexandria, nearly 20 restaurants in the city are competing in the #GWCherryChallenge.

The challenge, which pits restaurants against each other to make the best cherry-oriented appetizer, entrée, beverage, or dessert, runs from Feb. 1 to Feb. 15. The winner will be announced on the official parade website.

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Alexandria historic preservation group seeks a seat in Torpedo Factory discussions

By Vernon Miles

Published December 29, 2021 at 1:15PM

The Torpedo Factory in Old Town (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

There’s been a lot of discussion about changes happening inside the Torpedo Factory, but at least one group in Alexandria wants a little more attention paid to what will happen to the building itself.

At the Historic Alexandria Resources Commission (HARC) Advocacy Committee meeting last Tuesday, the group said there needs to be a seat at the table in Torpedo Factory discussions representing the historic elements of the building.

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Alexandria’s revitalization of local Civil War fort headed to public review

By Vernon Miles

Published December 28, 2021 at 9:45AM

The City of Alexandria is planning to host a public meeting next month to discuss plans to overhaul Fort Ward Park.

The site was a fort constructed during the Civil War as part of a ring of defenses protecting Washington D.C. The site currently has a museum and frequently hosts reenactments of daily life during the Civil War.