It has been close to 25 years since I did an interview with Ellis Island in New York. It brings back so many memories for me. My great-grandmother’s cousin, Lazarus Bates, a former principal in Halifax, VA, was included in this interview. For the very first time, he revealed that his grandfather was born into slavery. He witnessed the scars on his grandfather’s back when Lazarus was a small child. These scars were inflicted by his grandfather’s master. Cousin Bates is no longer with us, but he left my family and me with one of the greatest gifts, the story of our ancestors, who were born enslaved.
Starting October 14, 2024, The Other Alexandria Blog will post regularly every two weeks. These posts will be historical pieces on the Alexandria African Americans who helped shape Alexandria into what it is today. So please check out my bi-weekly blogs on The Other Alexandria!
I was born in Alexandria, Virginia in the 1950s. I attended Charles Houston Elementary School when it was segregated. When it was time for middle school in the 1970s, Parker-Gray was already integrated.
The only thing I remembered about African American (Black) History from elementary to middle school was the one-liner about slavery.
One year after high school, one event changed my life for every. In 1976, Alex Haley’s book “Roots” came out and the movie followed in 1977. I never thought that it was possible to research my family who had been in the United States since the 1700s, but Alex Haley made me think I could.
Forty-four years later, I am still just as passionate about genealogy as I was in 1976. I have found so many family members during these forty-years of research. Those individuals that I located never knew the achievements that our family members made. These achievements were in their local community. Because of my relatives, I have expanded my research into uncovering local histories about African Americans in Alexandria. My readers have let me know through their many e-mails how my articles have resonated with them.
I would like to thank my readers for their many e-mails of gratitude for my local history articles. I know how my readers feel because I was in their shoes when I found out about my relatives and their contributions to their community.
I would like to thank the Alexandria Gazette Newspaper for giving me the platform to write about the local histories of African Americans.
Recently, the Zebra newspaper featured me in their newspaper. I like to thank Audrey P. Davis, the Director of the Alexandria Black History Museum for interviewing me and the Zebra Production and Sale Assistant, Shenise Foster.
Alexandria’s Freedmen’s Cemetery: A Legacy of Freedom (Book Coming Soon)
Alexandria’s Freedmen’s Cemetery: A Legacy of Freedom’s Newsletter
I am glad to announce that my new book will be out between late December and January of 2019. My book “Alexandria’s Freedmen’s Cemetery: A Legacy of Freedom” has been in the making since 2015. I will be posting future book signings and behind the scene journey of finding descendants of the Freedmen Cemetery that is the backbone to writing this book. So look out for the next newsletter in December 2018.
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