Earl Lloyd, the first Black man to play in the National Basketball Association, will be honored on Saturday when his statue will be unveiled at the Alexandria African American Hall of Fame at Charles Houston Recreation Center.
The City Council approved the gift from Lloyd’s wife, Charlita Lloyd, last summer. The statue, which is three feet wide, nine feet long and six feet tall, is exactly like the statue of Lloyd dedicated at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.
Several largely-intact ship hulls found underground in Old Town a few years ago could see new life in a proposed “Waterfront Museum” in the early stages of consideration in the upcoming budget.
The possible museum could house and display the timbers of at least one of the four-total ships found under new developments in 2018.
After months of being closed during the holidays, a number of museums in Alexandria will be open to the public starting this Thursday, March 25.
The Alexandria Archaeology Museum, Alexandria History Museum at the Lyceum, Friendship Firehouse Museum and Gadsby’s Tavern Museum will open with modified hours, capacities, and advance ticket requirements, according to the city.
Alexandria Students Win C-SPAN Documentary Contest — “Five Alexandria students are winners in C-SPAN’s 2021 StudentCam competition. The national contest, in its 17th year, encourages middle and high school students to create short films on subjects of national importance. T.C. Williams High School’s Helen Russell, Alison Avelar, and Elena Gutierrez will receive $250 as honorable mention winners for the documentary, ‘Dear Mr. President: History, or Progress?’ about the renaming of schools, statues, and monuments.” [Zebra]
Some Alexandria Museums to Open in March — “The Alexandria History Museum will reopen on March 25, Gadsby’s Tavern Museum and Alexandria Archaeology Museum will reopen on March 26, and Friendship Firehouse Museum will open on select Saturdays.” [Patch]
From a profile of a daring 18th century coffee shop owner to the arrest of local suffragists, the Office of Historic Alexandria is planning a series of lectures and activities for Women’s History Month.
Historic Alexandria is planning several events over the upcoming weeks, including:
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner has lived in Old Town for 35 years, and on a freezing Monday morning he learned about the lives of enslaved and free Blacks via a tour with Alexandria City Councilman John Taylor Chapman.
“We have to tell the whole story — the good, the bad, the ugly,” Warner told ALXnow. “I’ve lived in Alexandria for 35 years and I’m hearing some of these stories for the first time.”
Several figures instrumental Alexandria’s Civil Rights movement crowded a typically unremarkable Naming Committee meeting last week to express support for naming a park for former school board member Shirley Tyler.
The naming committee voted unanimously in support of naming the unnamed 3550 Commonwealth Avenue Park the Shirley Tyler Unity Park, a blend of the “Shirley Tyler Park” and “Unity Park” suggestions.
Beyer: Trump Must Be Removed — Rep. Don Beyer: “Donald Trump is a danger to our democracy. I continue to support his impeachment and removal from office, and am looking carefully at new articles of impeachment being drafted and offered by my colleagues… Congress must ensure Trump’s removal from office by the swiftest and surest method available: confirmation of the American people’s will as expressed in the 2020 election.” [Press Release]
Current Inova Site to Become Residential Development — “At an online community meeting Wednesday evening, attorney Cathy Puskar said the hospital will be requesting a rezoning of its current Seminary Road/Howard Street property to allow a future developer to build single family detached homes and townhomes. The current hospital is surrounded by single family homes and multifamily units.” [Alexandria Living Magazine]
Any Alexandrian who has gone up and down the waterfront has passed, or even walked through, the Wilkes Street Tunnel.
The tunnel’s ties to the area’s industrial history were recently documented in the online local history repository Atlas Obscura.
After briefly reopening some locations to tours, Alexandria has once again closed several museums and historic sites starting tomorrow (Tuesday) until further notice due to the increase in COVID-19 cases.
The city said three locations that had been opened will be closed again:
In a Board of Architectural Review meeting earlier this week, local historic preservation consultant John Sprinkle shared some research from an upcoming book about the intersection — and sometimes fiery conflict — between the city’s efforts at historic preservation and the Civil Rights movement.
“From Historic Preservation to Neighborhood Conservation: Displacement, Urban Violence, and Architectural Survey in Alexandria, Virginia” details how, over the last fifty years, the city’s efforts at historic preservation have sometimes been at odds with efforts at preserving affordable housing in and around Black neighborhoods.
