Rethinking Fort Ward by Michael Lee Pope. April 16, 2009

Council Notebook

By Michael Lee Pope
Thursday, April 16, 2009



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Rethinking Fort Ward

With the recent discovery of long-neglected African-American graves at Fort Ward Park, city officials are grappling with how to handle the new developments. Back in the 1960s, the city government condemned several properties in the area in order to assemble lands to construct the park. Now, 40 years later, city officials are realizing that the grounds of the park are riddled with unmarked graves from African-American burial yards.

"Quite amazingly within the past few months, we’ve actually made contact with a number of the descendants of these families who have come forward," said Lance Mallamo, director of the Office of Historic Alexandria. "We really are developing a whole new awareness of the resources at the park that have been overlooked for many years."

The discovery of gravesites dovetails with concerns from neighborhood residents who are troubled by excessive noise at the park and overuse of the facilities. In two notorious cases, individuals have filed a permit for an event indicating that 35 people were expected then showed up with hundreds. It was during the discussion of overuse that the topic of neglected African-American graves entered the debate. Now city officials are trying to figure out how to honor those who were buried there while reducing picnic areas at Fort Ward and simultaneously designating the area as an arboretum.

"At some point, we are going to have to do a survey," said Mallamo, explaining that nobody knows exactly where the graves are located. "We are going to be looking at the museum’s mission statement to be more inclusive of the history of the park."