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Join us on Saturday, September 6, 2025 for the third annual Alexandria Library Black Family Reunion. The event aims to bring neighborhoods together and help fill gaps in the documented history of Alexandria’s African American community.
We are asking current and former residents to bring yearbooks, photographs, old event flyers, or programs that can be digitized. Better still, attendees can simply sit down and be videotaped sharing a brief oral history.
Like any reunion, of course it will be a party! Attendees will enjoy a variety of food trucks, music and dancing, games for kids and adults, and Black Family Reunion t-shirts. This community event is free and open to all.
What: Alexandria Library Black Family Reunion
When: Saturday, September 6, 2025 from 11 am - 3 pm
Where: Kate Waller Barrett Branch Library
717 Queen Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
To donate material during the Black Family Reunion event, please either fill out a registration form online beforehand, or complete a form at the donation table. A staff member may ask you questions about the material you are donating in order to catalog all the participants, dates, or other relevant details about your material.
Depending on how many items are being donated, staff may request that you leave the items at the Library to be scanned in the following days. Arrangements can then be made to pick up the materials once scanning is complete.
If you have further questions about the scanning and archiving process, or would like to arrange a time to meet with staff to donate a larger quantity of materials, please call the Local History/Special Collections Branch at 703.746.1706.
Early donations of photos and documents are now being accepted online. If your items are already in digital format, you may upload* them directly to our Archive.
If you plan to attend the Reunion and donate materials in-person, you may also use the form below to pre-register.
* If the total number of files exceeds 20 MB, please submit this form without file attachments, and then contact lhsc@alexlibraryva.org for additional instructions.
Record an Oral History
Learn Dances
Meet Local Business Owners and Non-Profits
Alexandria Library is hosting its second annual Black Family Reunion on Saturday, September 14, 2024. The event, at the Barrett Branch Library in Old Town, aims to bring neighborhoods together and help fill gaps in the documented history of Alexandria’s African American community.
African American families are invited to bring documents and images to be scanned and added to the Library’s Local History/Special Collections archive and preserved as part of the City’s historical record.
The event will feature music, games, food trucks, and more. Guests who bring a picture of people or places that have to do with Alexandria's black neighborhoods will receive a ticket for a free meal and dessert.
What: Alexandria Library Black Family Reunion
When: Saturday, September 14, 2024 from 11 am - 3 pm
Where: Kate Waller Barrett Branch Library
717 Queen Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
To donate material during the Black Family Reunion event, please either fill out a registration form online beforehand, or complete a form at the donation table. A staff member may ask you questions about the material you are donating in order to catalog all the participants, dates, or other relevant details about your material.
Depending on how many items are being donated, staff may request that you leave the items at the Library to be scanned in the following days. Arrangements can then be made to pick up the materials once scanning is complete.
If you have further questions about the scanning and archiving process, or would like to arrange a time to meet with staff to donate a larger quantity of materials, please call the Local History/Special Collections Branch at 703.746.1706.
Early donations of photos and documents are now being accepted online. If your items are already in digital format, you may upload* them directly to our Archive.
If you plan to attend the Reunion and donate materials in-person, you may also use the form below to pre-register.
* If the total number of files exceeds 20 MB, please submit this form without file attachments, and then contact lhsc@alexlibraryva.org for additional instructions.
Kick off the 2024 Black Family Reunion by learning how Jason Wood, with the help of his family, was moved to donate a trove of pictures, documents, and records to the Local History/Special Collections Branch during last year's Black Family Reunion. Members of Wood's family have lived in Alexandria for many generations and helped shape the city in countless ways.
More information can be found at alexlibraryva.org/event/11596904.
Community organizations and non-profits are welcome to apply to be a vendor at this year's event. Contact Luis Labra at llabra@alexlibraryva.org for more information.
| 10:30-11:30 AM | Childrens craft activity |
| 10:30 - 11:15 AM | Local Legacies: The Wood Family |
| 10:30 AM - 3 PM | *Registration table open |
| 10:30 AM - 3 PM | Tabling partners open |
| 11 AM | Formal Welcome from Rose Dawson, Library Director |
| 11:05 AM | Introduction from Library Board Chair Trudi Hahn |
| 11:10 AM | Reading of the Proclamation from Mayor Justin Wilson |
| 11:20 AM | Music from DJ |
| 11:30 AM | Food trucks begin serving lunch |
| 11:30 AM | Mini oral-history booth opens |
| 11:45 AM | Games begin: Chalk art, Connect Four, Tic-Tac-Toe, cards, horseshoes |
| 3 PM | Closing remarks |
* Guests who bring a photo or document to scan will receive a ticket for a free lunch and dessert.
"Our own memories—places, faces, and friends--are the foundations of what we record as history. If those memories are not preserved, so too is lost a piece of history. I was born and raised in Alexandria and I remember playing with friends, running up and down the streets. Our small 2-bedroom house at 510 N. Royal Street in the Berg neighborhood is gone. I want to help the Library collect pictures from that time to tell my story. Not just my story, but the story of many African Americans who grew up in Alexandria, and let those parts of history live on."
"At the intersection of genealogy and geography, we find community. As a genealogist, my research often involves looking into the past of Alexandria. Specifically, the African American history. Letters and photos are time capsules that can help preserve a community’s story. Sharing them with the Library means the story of our community will continue to be told long into the future."
Photo courtesy of Steven Halperson of Tisara Photography
Alexandria Library Hosting Second Annual Black Family Reunion Event (The Zebra, August 21, 2024)
Alexandria, steeped in history, seeks to recover its Black community’s past (The Washington Post, April 30, 2023)
Alexandria working to add histories of Black citizens to city archives (WUSA9, April 29, 2023)
Alexandria hosting ‘Black Family Reunion’ with goal of improving historic collections (DC News Now, April 29, 2023)
Alexandria Library is hosting its first ever Black Family Reunion Saturday (WUSA9, April 28, 2023)
'Black Family Reunion' library event aims to fill gaps in documented history of Alexandria's Black families (WUSA9, April 27, 2023)
Black Family Reunion Event Happening at Alexandria's Barrett Library on April 29th (The Zebra, April 22, 2023)
Alexandria Library Hosts Black Family Reunion to Enrich Archives and Preserve Community History (Library News Release, April 12, 2023)
Alexandria Library Black Family Reunion (The Zebra, April 2023, calendar listing)
‘Black Family Reunion’: Help Barrett Branch Library Document Alexandria’s Black History April 29 (The Zebra, February 2023)
The Alexandria Library Black Family Reunion is made possible by the Alexandria Library and by the generous support of an anonymous donor.
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