Freedmen's Cemetery

Between 1864 and 1869, Freedmen’s Cemetery served as the burial place for about 1,800 African Americans who fled to Union-occupied Alexandria to escape from bondage. After federal occupation of Alexandria ended, the cemetery was abandoned, and later development destroyed countless graves before the City of Alexandria reclaimed it in 2007. Archaeological investigation confirmed that hundreds of graves survived, and work on the future Contrabands and Freedmen’s Cemetery Memorial is expected to start in 2011.