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City Of Alexandria To Buy Freedom House For $1.8 Million
City Of Alexandria To Buy Freedom House For $1.8 Million
The National Historic Landmark was once part of the headquarters for the largest domestic slave trading firm in the country.
By Emily Leayman, Patch Staff
Jan 7, 2020 1:39 pm ET
ALEXANDRIA, VA — Freedom House, a historic building once part of the headquarters for the largest domestic slave trading firm in the U.S., will be bought by the City of Alexandria for $1.8 million. The city plans to preserve the building at 1315 Duke Street, now a museum and National Historic Landmark.
Freedom House was owned by the Northern Virginia Urban League before it reached an agreement for the city to purchase the building. In February 2019, City Council approved a plan for the Office of Historic Alexandria and for Northern Virginia Urban League to receive a loan. The city stepped in as Northern Virginia Urban League had been struggling to make mortgage payments on the property.
The city's purchase agreement is pending approval by the Planning Commission and City Council in February.
....
The National Historic Landmark was once part of the headquarters for the largest domestic slave trading firm in the country.
By Emily Leayman, Patch Staff
Jan 7, 2020 1:39 pm ET
ALEXANDRIA, VA — Freedom House, a historic building once part of the headquarters for the largest domestic slave trading firm in the U.S., will be bought by the City of Alexandria for $1.8 million. The city plans to preserve the building at 1315 Duke Street, now a museum and National Historic Landmark.
Freedom House was owned by the Northern Virginia Urban League before it reached an agreement for the city to purchase the building. In February 2019, City Council approved a plan for the Office of Historic Alexandria and for Northern Virginia Urban League to receive a loan. The city stepped in as Northern Virginia Urban League had been struggling to make mortgage payments on the property.
The city's purchase agreement is pending approval by the Planning Commission and City Council in February.
....
City plans to buy and preserve Freedom House
January 7, 2020
Photo/Visit Alexandria
By Cody Mello-Klein | cmelloklein@alextimes.com
The City of Alexandria announced that it plans to purchase Freedom House, the historic site of a former slave trading firm, on Monday.
The future of Freedom House, located at 1315 Duke St., has been up in the air since the Northern Virginia Urban League announced the site was for sale in October. With the city’s announcement, that future is a bit brighter for the National Historic Landmark.
Freedom House served as the headquarters for a series of slave trading operations between 1828 and 1861, including Franklin and Armfield, one of the largest in the nation. It’s estimated that about 50,000 enslaved adults and children went through the Duke Street building on their way to slave markets farther south, according to a news release.
“I think what is unique about this building is that so many of our fellow Americans can trace their family history through that building, through ancestors that went through that building, were essentially marketed through that building, which is stunning and sobering and I think is part of that story that we need to tell,” Mayor Justin Wilson said.
....
January 7, 2020
Photo/Visit Alexandria
By Cody Mello-Klein | cmelloklein@alextimes.com
The City of Alexandria announced that it plans to purchase Freedom House, the historic site of a former slave trading firm, on Monday.
The future of Freedom House, located at 1315 Duke St., has been up in the air since the Northern Virginia Urban League announced the site was for sale in October. With the city’s announcement, that future is a bit brighter for the National Historic Landmark.
Freedom House served as the headquarters for a series of slave trading operations between 1828 and 1861, including Franklin and Armfield, one of the largest in the nation. It’s estimated that about 50,000 enslaved adults and children went through the Duke Street building on their way to slave markets farther south, according to a news release.
“I think what is unique about this building is that so many of our fellow Americans can trace their family history through that building, through ancestors that went through that building, were essentially marketed through that building, which is stunning and sobering and I think is part of that story that we need to tell,” Mayor Justin Wilson said.
....
Virginia Politics
Alexandria plans to buy Freedom House, former slave pen now home to a museum
By Patricia Sullivan
Jan. 6, 2020 at 7:25 p.m. EST
The city of Alexandria plans to buy and restore Freedom House, the site of one of the nation’s most notorious pre-Civil War slave pens, and expand exhibits inside the building that showcase its cruel history.
City officials announced the $1.8 million purchase agreement Monday after months of negotiations with the Northern Virginia Urban League, which has owned the 1812 brick rowhouse at 1315 Duke St. since 1996.
Mayor Justin Wilson (D) called the building’s preservation “vital .?.?. to connect the stories of our past to our present-day conversation about race and equity, and ensure we are telling a broader, more candid account of Alexandria and our nation’s history.”
Between 1828 and 1836, the property served as headquarters for Franklin and Armfield, at the time the richest and most successful slave-trading business in the United States. Other slave-trading firms operated there in later years, until Union troops arrived in Alexandria in 1861 and found a lone black man chained by the leg in the basement.
[‘Like we descended from Hitler’: Coming to terms with a slave-trading past]
Historians say as many as 50,000 enslaved Africans passed through the depot on their way to servitude in the Deep South. After being herded off boats at Alexandria’s port and marched to the property, they were held in the dingy basement or in cells behind the house, then forced to walk in chains or sail on packed ships to bondage, primarily in Mississippi and Louisiana.
The local Urban League was praised for saving the four-story rowhouse from oblivion in 1996 when it bought the property and created a small basement museum that includes shackles and recordings of slave narratives.
....
Patricia Sullivan
Patricia Sullivan covers government, politics and other regional issues in Arlington County and Alexandria. She worked in Illinois, Florida, Montana and California before joining The Post in November 2001. Follow https://twitter.com/psullivan1
Alexandria plans to buy Freedom House, former slave pen now home to a museum
By Patricia Sullivan
Jan. 6, 2020 at 7:25 p.m. EST
The city of Alexandria plans to buy and restore Freedom House, the site of one of the nation’s most notorious pre-Civil War slave pens, and expand exhibits inside the building that showcase its cruel history.
City officials announced the $1.8 million purchase agreement Monday after months of negotiations with the Northern Virginia Urban League, which has owned the 1812 brick rowhouse at 1315 Duke St. since 1996.
Mayor Justin Wilson (D) called the building’s preservation “vital .?.?. to connect the stories of our past to our present-day conversation about race and equity, and ensure we are telling a broader, more candid account of Alexandria and our nation’s history.”
Between 1828 and 1836, the property served as headquarters for Franklin and Armfield, at the time the richest and most successful slave-trading business in the United States. Other slave-trading firms operated there in later years, until Union troops arrived in Alexandria in 1861 and found a lone black man chained by the leg in the basement.
[‘Like we descended from Hitler’: Coming to terms with a slave-trading past]
Historians say as many as 50,000 enslaved Africans passed through the depot on their way to servitude in the Deep South. After being herded off boats at Alexandria’s port and marched to the property, they were held in the dingy basement or in cells behind the house, then forced to walk in chains or sail on packed ships to bondage, primarily in Mississippi and Louisiana.
The local Urban League was praised for saving the four-story rowhouse from oblivion in 1996 when it bought the property and created a small basement museum that includes shackles and recordings of slave narratives.
....
Patricia Sullivan
Patricia Sullivan covers government, politics and other regional issues in Arlington County and Alexandria. She worked in Illinois, Florida, Montana and California before joining The Post in November 2001. Follow https://twitter.com/psullivan1
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