Alexandria Historical Society-Alexandria, VA

How it started and how it's going. Happy New Year from the Alexandria Historical Society! We had a great time commemorating Alexandria’s 275th birthday and our 50th anniversary in 2024, and we’re not slowing down in 2025. Stay tuned for new events, new experiences, new issues of The Alexandria Chronicle, new posts on our social media channels, and, coming later this year, a brand-new way to explore the Port City’s past. Plus, there are some other historic anniversaries to commemorate (we hear our friends at the Alexandria Archaeological Commission are celebrating a pretty big milestone this year). Thank you to everyone who supported us in 2024 by attending an event, purchasing a membership, donating, utilizing our online resources, contributing articles to the Alexandria Chronicle, or presenting at one of our events. Your support is essential to the work we do. Here’s to 2025! Credit: Library of Congress/Scott Vierick

2024 was Alexandria's 275 birthday and the Alexandria Historical Society's 50th anniversary. As this year comes to a close, now is a great chance to reflect on both the Port City's past and what its future should be. One of our board members pulled together some of the Alexandria Historical Society's social media posts into an article (link in comments). These posts are not a comprehensive history of Alexandria, but provide glimpses into various events and people that shaped the city. While some of these stories are light-hearted, others deal with serious and sometimes painful topics. Stories were selected based on the engagement they received on our social media channels or how they resonated with the board and our members. We're looking forward to researching and sharing more stories in the new year. Purchasing a membership or following us on social media (or both) are great ways to stay up to date on AHS events and announcements. Image credits: Library of Congress, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, WMATA, Office of Historic Alexandria

2024 isn’t over yet, but we’re already preparing for 2025. In January, we’re hosting two virtual history events. On January 15 at 7 pm, join Francesco De Salvatore, Manager of the Alexandria Oral History Center (a division of the Office of Historic Alexandria), and Scott Vierick, a former oral historian at History Associates Inc. and current AHS board member, for a discussion about Alexandria’s oral history program. This session will explore the extensive historical materials housed at the Alexandria Oral History Center and provide insights into conducting oral history projects. Whether you're interested in documenting your family’s stories, gathering community histories, or learning more about Alexandria’s diverse past, this presentation will offer valuable guidance and inspiration. On January 22 at 7 pm, join David Alff, historian and author of “The Northeast Corridor: The Trains, The History, The People, The History,” for his talk “How the Northeast Became an Acela Corridor.” He will discuss the intertwined infrastructure, culture, and transportation history of the area and share some insights into the future of passenger rail in both the Northeast Corridor and Virginia. Whether you’re a frequent Amtrak or VRE rider or simply enjoy watching the trains pass through Alexandria, this talk offers a great chance to learn more about the past, present, and future of passenger rail in the region. Both events are free, but registration is required. To register for one or both of these events, please email alexandriahistoricalsociety@gmail.com. Credit: Office of Historic Alexandria/Library of Congress

“The old people have been vying with the younger ones in noise-making, and the entire day has been replete with every conceivable noise that is possible to be made with horns, powder, crackers, whistles, and cannon.” -The Washington Post, December 26, 1891 ‘Twas the night of Christmas, and all through the house, everyone was partying, including the mouse! Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah from the Alexandria Historical Society! Christmas in 1891 Alexandria was one heck of a party. That year, Alexandrians went all out to celebrate the holiday. Reports discussed people taking to the streets “giving themselves up to enjoyment of every sort.” The noisemaking was the 19th-century version of rocking around the Christmas tree, with a lighthearted competition between generations over who could be louder. While the papers did note that “several small accidents have occurred from the careless use of powder,” all injuries were minor. (We couldn’t find any public domain images of the celebrations, so please enjoy this photo of the Market Square Christmas Tree). “Said the night wind to the little lamb, ‘Do you see what I see?’” Believe it or not, the Christmas celebrations occurred even though half of the city was without power. The Washington Post reported, “For three nights past, the entire portion of the city north of King Street has been enveloped in darkness, the electric works being unable to furnish light.” The blackout made Christmas shopping a bit challenging, but Alexandrians didn’t let it stop them from celebrating and making merry. The papers also reported that two Alexandrians suffering from grip (Bornholm’s Disease), G.B. and James F. Carlin, were now feeling better and had participated in the festivities. Was their recovery merely the disease running its course, or was it a Christmas miracle? We’ll leave that up to our social media followers to decide. On behalf of the Alexandria Historical Society, we hope you all have a wonderful holiday. May it be spent with good friends and loved ones and not involve any power outages.

Need a gift for the history lover in your life? How about an Alexandria Historical Society membership? Members get free admission to our History Talks, discounted admission to our History Behind-the-Scenes events, early access to new issues of our journal, “The Alexandria Chronicle,” and a subscription to our History Newsletter. Memberships allow AHS to bring in new speakers, fund local history projects through our grant program, and honor the best of public history through our Alexandria History Awards. Memberships start at just $20. To join, please visit our website (link in comments). Credit: National Archives and Records Administration

“We have top men working on it right now.” “Who?” “Top…men.” -Raiders of the Lost Ark Recognize this location? No, it’s not where the government decided to store the Ark of the Covenant (at least, not to our knowledge). It’s the former Federal Records Center in Alexandria, which was housed in the Torpedo Factory complex. With the end of World War II, the government decided to stop using the site as a manufacturing plant. Instead, it was converted into a warehouse space to store records. Anyone who’s ever done research at the National Archives knows that the federal government creates a lot of records. This is a boon for researchers, but managing and storing all these archival materials can be a challenge. That’s where Federal Record Centers (FRCs) come in. As part of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), FRCs house records from various government agencies to keep them safe from damage and make sure that they are available for use by federal employees. Some materials are eventually transferred to National Archives facilities and made accessible to the public, while others are disposed of after a certain amount of time. Today, FRCs protect over 27 million cubic feet of records. So what was held at the Alexandria Federal Records Center? Fans of the Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, might be interested to hear that part of the Smithsonian’s dinosaur fossil collection resided at the site for a time. Some congressional records were also housed here. But the most well-known collection was the materials related to Nazi war crimes in World War II. These materials were used by the prosecution during the Nuremberg Trials and remain valuable sources for historians researching World War II and the Third Reich. Today, the closest Federal Records Center is in Suitland, Maryland, across the Potomac River. The City of Alexandria purchased the Torpedo Factory and reopened it as the Torpedo Factory Art Center in 1974. Today, we know the site for its art studios and the Alexandria Archeology Museum, but pictures like this remind us of the area’s long and varied history. Credit: National Archives and Records Administration

To celebrate our 50th anniversary, the Alexandria Historical Society awarded a combined $10,000 in grants to various projects to preserve, research, and share local history. We're excited that we get to play a role in supporting these projects. Congratulations to our winners! -The Out and About in Old Town project: To support efforts to research and share Alexandria’s LGBTQ+ history. - Alexandria Elks Lodge #48: To support an archival project to protect and preserve the lodge’s historic records. -History Revealed, Inc.: To support the indexing of recently transcribed late 18th-century ledgers and other documents of a local Alexandria business. -Madeline Feierstein: To support the research, writing, and publication of “Confine & Fortify: The Military Government of Civil War Alexandria,” about military-civilian coexistence and conflict in Alexandria during the Civil War. -Office of Historic Alexandria: To support an internship facilitating the creation of biographies for 100 people buried at Douglass Cemetery and transcriptions of related oral histories. -Martial Music in Washington City 1791–1828: To support research and performances of historic music connected to the early years of the District of Columbia. To learn more about each winning project, check out the Golden Grants page on our website (link in comments).

Dashing to Old Town/ on a Metro train today/ along the tracks we go/ laughing all the way/ bells on smartphones ring / as passengers alight / what fun it is to ride and sing on a Metro train tonight. On December 17, 1983, Alexandria received an early Christmas present when the Braddock Road, King Street, Eisenhower Avenue, and Huntington stations opened to the public. These new stations, part of an expansion of the Yellow Line, officially connected Alexandria (and the Alexandria section of Fairfax County) to the Metrorail system. Other Alexandria stations followed. The Van Dorn Station on the Blue Line opened in 1991, while the Potomac Yard Station opened last year. “Metro Extension Opens with Flourish,” the Washington Post declared as the trains began traveling north and south through the Port City. Extending Metro to Alexandria was not without controversy, but when it came time to open the new stations, the city rolled out the welcome mat (pictured). At King Street Station, a bagpiper played and cannons fired to mark the occasion. Around 12,000 passengers utilized the new stations to hop on a Metro train that day. While Metro (like any transportation system) has experienced challenges over the years, today it is hard to imagine Alexandria without it. The Metro system has become a part of our city’s history and is used by many locals and out-of-town visitors to travel around and see the area's many historic sites. Want to learn more about Metro’s history? Head over to our YouTube page to view Dr. Zachary M. Schrag’s lecture “Thinking Big: Lessons from the Washington Metro.” Credit: WMATA

“Light the lamp, not the rat. Light the lamp, not the rat! -Rizzo the Rat, A Muppets Christmas Carol Many of us who grew up in the 90s and early 2000s first heard the term “lamplighter” while watching “A Muppets Christmas Carol.” Gonzo dresses up as one before accidentally setting Rizzo’s tail on fire (Rizzo recovers just fine). In the era before electric lights, lamplighters played an important role in many cities, including Alexandria! In 1804, Alexandria elected officials decided to facilitate the creation of a streetlamp system since “lighting the streets with lamps would be highly conducive to the convenience of the citizens and ornamental to the town.” Under the law the council passed, property owners had to petition the city to install a lamp on their block and then pay special taxes to defray the costs of installment and upkeep. For that reason, the rollout was uneven. By 1813, you could enjoy a nighttime walk down King Street to the waterfront, with your path lit by lamplight. By contrast, a similar walk on Duke Street required that you bring your own lantern. The city watch was tasked with lighting and maintaining the lamps. Lamplighters had to light the lamps in the evening, extinguish them in the morning, and make repairs as necessary. James Hudson is the first recorded lamplighter in Alexandria. For three months of work in 1809-1810, he earned $47.80 as a nightwatchman plus an additional $4.36 for serving as a lamplighter. Hudson and his fellow lamplighters appear to have been good at their jobs. A traveler in 1818 noted that Alexandria’s streets were “better lighted at night than those of most American towns.” In the 1850s, the city switched to gas-powered lamps and continued to deploy night watchmen as lamplighters. (Unlike the Muppets, there’s no evidence that any of Alexandria’s lamplighters ever accidentally lit their coworkers on fire). Want to learn more about the history of lamplighters and streetlights in Alexandria, including when the city switched over to electric lights? Check out local historian Diane Riker’s article in the Fall 2010 issue of “The Alexandria Chronicle” (link in comments). Credit: Wikimedia Foundation

“Bah Humbug?” In the spirit of the season, the AHS team was looking for holiday-related articles from our journal, The Chronicle, and we discovered an intriguing piece questioning whether Wilmer McLean was an Alexandrian Ebenezer Scrooge. In 2001, Cliff Johns contributed an article entitled “Wilmer McLean: Victim or Scrooge?” McLean, a grocer, merchant, and slaveholder grew up in Alexandria before moving out to Manassas. As the Civil War raged, McLean decided to move his family away from the fighting and took them to someplace where he thought the war could never find them… Appomattox Courthouse. In 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee met US General Ulysses S. Grant at McLean’s house in Appomattox to arrange the terms of his army’s surrender. McLean later moved back to Alexandria where he died at his home at the corner of Pitt and Wolfe streets. He is buried in St. Paul’s Cemetery. Why do many consider McLean a Scrooge? Johns notes that contemporary critics and later historians accused McLean of commodities speculation during the Civil War. He quotes one biographer who argued McLean, “purchase[d] paper, candles, and other scarce items in Richmond… then sold them to the Confederate Quartermaster for the highest price he could receive.” Johns also notes that McLean sent several messages to General Pemberton at Vicksburg to release some of the sugar McLean had purchased, ignoring that Pemberton was then under siege and needed all the supplies he could get. However, Johns also notes that some of McLean’s negative reputation might also be due to his postwar actions. After the conflict, McLean joined the Republican Party and received a job from the Grant Administration. This earned him the enmity of many of his neighbors as well as future Lost Cause proponents. So was McLean a Scrooge, ruthlessly profiteering while others suffered or was he simply trying to provide for his family? There's no evidence of three ghosts visiting McLean, so we recommend checking out Johns’ article: https://lnkd.in/gEXrDtnf for a full review of the facts. Then, you can form your own opinion. Credit: National Park Service