AUGUST 18–24, 2025
What's New
FEATURED EVENT
School’s In! Explore Historic Alexandria K-12 Resources
It is the first day of school for many in the area. Did you know Historic Alexandria has many educational resources designed to support K–12 learning? From museum field trips and classroom outreach to free online materials, we have something for every grade. Teachers and families—make history part of your school year! For more info, visit https://www.alexandriava.gov/historic-alexandria/k-12-learning-in-historic-alexandria
Upcoming Events
View the Historic Alexandria Calendar
Trivia Nights at Historic Sites: 1920s
Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden, 614 Oronoco Street
Friday, August 22 (biweekly through August)
7 - 9 p.m.
$12 admission
Purchase tickets.
Join staff from Lee-Fendall House Museum and Carlyle House Historic Park for bi-weekly trivia nights in the beautiful gardens located at Lee-Fendall House. Test your knowledge all summer on all things from pop culture to history! The theme of our August 22nd trivia night will be 1920s. Cost includes one drink ticket; additional drinks can be bought at our cash bar. Teams may have up to 6 members. Ages 21 and over only. No outside alcohol is permitted. Food and water may be brought into the garden.
Interrogations & Intelligence: A World War II Story of P.O. Box 1142
Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden, 614 Oronoco Street
Saturday, August 23
2 - 3 p.m.
$10 admission
Purchase tickets.
In 1942, the United States War Department was issued a permit to use the land of Fort Hunt Park that is located just 6 miles away from Old Town, Alexandria. What was established there? A top-secret military intelligence facility only known by its mailing address, P.O. Box 1142. During the War, three operations took place to aid the Allies in winning the war: MIS-Y (interrogation of Germans POWs), MIS-X (escape and evade program), and MIRS (creating the "Red Book"). This lecture will delve into each of these operations, the facility's connections to Old Town, Alexandria, as well as the reason why the facility remained a secret to the public until the early 2000s.
Tickets are $10 to the general public and free for museum members. Members please call at (703) 548-1789 to reserve your tickets.
Family Day with Young Historians
Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, 134 N. Royal Street
Sundays, August 24 and August 31 (every Sunday through Labor Day)
2 - 5 p.m.
Included in regular museum admission.
Junior Docents (4th through 6th graders) provide stationed tours throughout the two tavern buildings and operate special, hands-on activity stations about period clothing and chocolate making. It’s a unique and fun way to explore history for all ages. Don’t miss your last chance this summer to enjoy Family Day at Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, where Junior Docents bring history to life! Family Day wraps up on Labor Day weekend!
Yoga on the Magnolia Terrace-Happy Hour
Carlyle House Historic Park, 121 North Fairfax Street
Thursday, August 28
6 - 7:30 p.m.
$20 admission
Purchase tickets.
Join Friends of Carlyle House for a special outdoor yoga class on our picturesque Magnolia Terrace with themed mocktails to be provided afterwards!
Join a yoga instructor for an hour long Yoga class on Carlyle’s Magnolia Terrace. Afterwards, enjoy a mocktail with yoga participants and staff. Happy Hours are a fundraiser for new exhibit cases in the museum and sponsored by the Friends of Carlyle House.
Please bring water, a towel, and a yoga mat. Wear comfortable yoga wear. Please note that the terrace is bricked so please bring a thicker mat or double up with an extra mat or towel. Class may be canceled due to inclement weather, you will receive an email if class is canceled.
Specialty Tour: Fort Ward & Lewis Cass White
Fort Ward Museum & Historic Site, 4301 West Braddock Road
Saturday, September 6
10 - 11 a.m.
$15 per person/$12 for Historic Alexandria Member or Volunteer
Purchase tickets.
Come explore the special exhibition, “Lewis Cass White: Preserving the Legacy of Fort Stevens," at Fort Ward Museum & Historic Site. The exhibition highlights the efforts of a Civil War veteran to recognize and preserve the site of Fort Stevens, where the only battle in the Defenses of Washington occurred. Personal accounts, documents, photographs, and veterans’ memorabilia are featured to tell this inspiring story. Then head outside to tour the earthwork remains and fully restored Northwest bastion of Fort Ward, the best preserved of the Union forts that comprised the historic defense system. Please be sure to arrive 5 minutes before tour time. Doors will be locked at the start of the tour. Wear appropriate shoes for walking on the earthwork fort.
Support Historic Alexandria
Your gift fuels preservation, education, and programs that bring Alexandria’s past to life. Donations, special revenue, and grants make it possible to expand educational programs, conserve treasured collections, and support our dedicated staff. Your gift today helps preserve Alexandria’s history for generations to come.
Historic Alexandria Museum Hours
Alexandria Archaeology Museum
Tuesdays–Fridays, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturdays, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sundays, 1 –5 p.m.
Alexandria Black History Museum
Thursdays & Fridays, 11 a.m.– 4 p.m., Saturdays, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sundays, 1– 5 p.m.
Alexandria History Museum at The Lyceum
Thursdays & Fridays, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturdays, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sundays, 1 – 5 p.m.
Fort Ward Museum
Thursdays & Fridays, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturdays, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sundays, 1 – 5 p.m.
Freedom House
Closed to Visitors During Front Door Restoration
Freedom House Museum is temporarily closed to visitors as the exterior restoration is completed. We plan to reopen in fall of 2025.
To learn more about the ongoing rehabilitation, visit the Freedom House Rehabilitation Project page. Project updates will be posted regularly on the Freedom House webpage.
Friendship Firehouse Museum
Saturday, September 27, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Gadsby’s Tavern Museum
Thursdays & Fridays, 11 a.m.– 4 p.m., Saturdays, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sundays-Tuesdays, 1– 5 p.m.
Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum
Wednesdays–Fridays, 11 a.m.– 4 p.m., Saturdays, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sundays & Mondays 1 - 5 p.m.
2025 Historic Alexandria Holiday Ornament - Available Now in Historic Alexandria museum stores and in our online store!
Celebrate Alexandria’s 19th-century canal history with this beautifully crafted, American-made brass ornament. This year’s design honors the Alexandria Canal, featuring a canal boat exiting Lock No. 4 heading eastward toward the Potomac River, uncovered by archaeologists in the winter of 2025 on N. Pitt Street. The Alexandria Canal was in use from 1843 to 1886. Learn more here.
Full Time Museum Educator position open!
We’re looking for a full-time Museum Educator to spark curiosity, inspire learning, and share Alexandria’s stories. If you love connecting people with history, apply online today.
Explore with Ease – The New Museum Mobility Guide
Historic Alexandria and the Department of Transportation & Environmental Services (T&ES) have launched a colorful, easy-to-use map and guide connecting all of Alexandria’s museums via walking, biking, and transit. The guide also acts as a passport—visit every site and earn a prize! Available at museums, rec centers, public libraries, and more.
Visit our website and follow us on social media to discover new things about your hometown. For more information, visit alexandriava.gov/Historic. Admission to City of Alexandria museums is complimentary for city residents.
For reasonable disability accommodation, contact Nicole Quinn at historicalexandria@alexandriava.gov or call 703.746.4554, Virginia Relay 711.
This Week in Alexandria's History
African-American youths staged the first deliberate and planned sit-in at the Alexandria “public” Library on August 21, 1939. On March 17, 1939, attorney Samuel Wilbert Tucker and retired Army Sergeant George Wilson, walked through the doors of the segregated Queen Street Library in Alexandria, Virginia and requested an application for a library card. Library policy was to not issue library cards to persons of the colored race. Tucker passed the newly erected Alexandria library on a daily basis, yet as an African American he had to travel to the District of Columbia to have access to library facilities. Unsatisfied with the unequal access to educational facilities, Tucker decided to battle the system of Jim Crow through the courts. A lawsuit was filed in the local court to force the librarian to issue a library card to Sergeant Wilson as a taxpaying citizen of the City of Alexandria. When the case was eventually heard on January 10, 1940, the judge rejected the petition for a library card for technical reasons, but affirmed that “there were no legal grounds for refusing the plaintiff or any other bona fide citizen the use of the library.” The Virginia Public Assemblages Act of 1926 stated that both races were to be segregated within the same facility, therefore according to the law African Americans were unlawfully barred from the Alexandria Library. Within two days of the judge’s decision, two African-Americans applied for library cards. Yet they were refused by being informed that a new colored branch of the Alexandria library was under construction and that their application was under consideration. This was an obvious tactic to appease them until a separate colored branch could be opened. The colored branch was the Robinson Library, now the site of the Alexandria Black History Museum.
Although this first act of defiance against the system of Jim Crow did not garner the media attention, this was the first step towards the City of Alexandria seriously considering a colored branch for its African-American citizens and facing the issue of accessibility, however unequal, for all of its citizens.
Upcoming Commission and Committee Events
Commissions Supporting Historic Alexandria
August 18 Alexandria Sister City Committee - Dundee and Helsingborg
City Hall, 301 King Street, Sister Cities Room 1101
7-8:30 p.m.- August 18 George Washington Birthday Celebration Committee (GWBCC)
Lloyd House, 220 N. Washington Street
7-9 p.m. September 8 Alexandria-Caen Sister Cities Committee (SCC)
City Hall, 301 King Street, Sister Cities Room 1101
7-9 p.m.September 10 Alexandria Historical Restoration and Preservation Commission
Lloyd House, 220 N. Washington Street
8-9:15 a.m.September 10 Alexandria Community Remembrance Project Steering Committee
Alexandria Black History Museum, 902 Wythe Street
5:30 p.m.