African Americans of Alexandria, Beacons of Light

African Americans of Alexandria, Virginia

Beacons of Light in the Twentieth Century

 Char McCargo Bah, Christa Watters, Audrey P. Davis, Gwendolyn Brown-Henderson and James E. Henson Sr.

This show will explore a new book written about Alexandria’s twentieth-century African American community. Experience the harrowing narratives of trials and triumph as Alexandria’s African Americans helped to shape not only their hometown but also the world around them. Rutherford Adkins became one of the first black fighter pilots as a Tuskegee Airman. Samuel Tucker, a twenty-six-year-old lawyer, organized and fought for Alexandria to share its wealth of knowledge with the African American community by opening its libraries to all colors and creeds. Discover a vibrant past that, through this record, will be remembered

Char McCargo Bah is a professional genealogist for the Alexandria Legacies—Freedmen’s Cemetery Descendants Project of the City of Alexandria, an author and a public speaker. Audrey P. Davis is currently the acting director of the Alexandria Black History Museum and has been employed by the City of Alexandria for over 20 years. Gwendolyn Brown-Henderson is a native Alexandrian and retired United States government worker. James E. Henson Sr. is a retired attorney who grew up in Alexandria. Christa Watters is a freelance writer and editor who has lived in Alexandria for thirty years. This group came together to document the history of African Americans who were agents of change and served as Beacons of Light in Alexandria in the twentieth century.