“Importance of Knowing Your History”

The City of Alexandria, Virginia, celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the Freedmen’s Cemetery and its Descendants in a three-day celebration that started on September 6, 2024.

From 2008 to 2014, the City’s Genealogist researched and located descendants of the Freedmen Cemetery. In 2014, the City dedicated the Freedmen Cemetery Memorial, and hundreds of people, along with National Television coverage, brought National recognition to this Cemetery. Before the celebration, many descendants had no clue about their family history related to the Civil War.

Through research, the City gave the descendants a part of their history that they never knew. After they received the news that their family was buried at the Cemetery and that they had arrived in Alexandria after running away from enslavement, they cried as they processed the information. But once they went through that process, their shoulders became straighter, and they knew their ancestors’ strength and determination of wanting freedom at any cost.

Just like their ancestors, who came to Alexandria for Freedom, Alexandria invited their descendants back to honor their ancestors’ Freedom. But what was the back story of their ancestors? The article on this page, which was published in the “Soldiers’ Journal,” stated that over seven thousand runaway slaves who were called contrabands wanted to taste freedom. They were hardworking people who wanted the same things that other free people had freedom.  

In my book, “Alexandria’s Freedmen’s Cemetery: A Legacy of Freedom,” on page 77, I discuss a child, John Gaines, who was buried at the Freedmen Cemetery in 1864.

“In 1864, the month of July was extremely dry, with the water levels low, grass growing in the reservoir, the temperature very sultry and mosquitoes abounding. During this extremely hot weather, eight-year-old John Gaines was buried on July 28, 1864.”

John Gaines’ parents were among the seven thousand people mentioned in the article who came to Alexandria for Freedom. His descendants, Lillian Locklear Alston and Wanda Ellis took part in the 2014 Freedmen’s Cemetery Memorial Celebration, along with several hundred other descendants of people buried at the Freedmen’s Cemetery.

Everybody’s history is essential; we are the only living thing celebrating our past. If we do not study ourselves or create a study guide of our history and how we came about, then who else will focus on us? For the descendants of the Freedmen Cemetery, they had Alexandria, who gave them the most precious thing a human being can have, which is a piece of their history!

If you want to read additional stories and learn more about the Freedmen Cemetery, you can find the book, “Alexandria’s Freedmen’s Cemetery: A Legacy of Freedom,” by Char McCargo Bah at amazon.com. Also, you can visit Alexandria and stop by the Freedmen Cemetery and the Alexandria Black History Museum.

©2024-Char McCargo Bah