Alexandria Acquires Fort Ward by Tom Fulton. October 9, 2010

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY’S 6TH ANNUAL PUBLIC POLICY CONFERENCE
“Advancing Social Justice in Times of Crisis”
PANEL: “Views of the Same Scene: Protecting Archaeology and Heritage in Fort Ward Park.”
Friday, October 9, 2:00 – 3:15 pm, Room , Building
Paper: Alexandria Acquires Fort Ward
Tom Fulton


On January 1, 1952 the City of Alexandria expanded its boundary west from Quaker Lane to its present limit encompassing 6.475 square miles of Fairfax County, 12,000 new residents and the area that now encompasses Fort Ward Historical Park.
The City of Alexandria, a seaport community founded in 1749, currently has a city manager government and an elected mayor and City Council. All City Council members are elected at-large, unlike those in neighboring jurisdictions such as D.C., Arlington and Fairfax County.


The manner in which Alexandria addresses citizen concerns is generally through the use of citizen boards and commissions. The city management of Fort Ward Historical Park and Museum is shared between the City Department of Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Affairs and, the not quite co-equal Office of Historic Alexandria.


Both of these city agencies have citizen commissions advising them, as do most, if not all, of the other city agencies. The City Parks Department has the Parks and Recreation Commission and the Office of Historic Alexandria has the Historic Alexandria Resources Commission. There are also other City agencies such as the Department of Transportation and Environmental Services and the city police Department whose functions naturally touch upon Fort Ward and its management.
There are also other boards and commissions such as the Alexandria Archaeological Commission, of which I am a member, which also share oversight responsibilities for Fort Ward. The goal, ostensibly is to maximize citizen input into city policy decision making.


The acquisition of the land at Fort Ward began shortly after extension of the city limits. Although the Fort had been abandoned in 1865 and much of the 44-acre property divided into increasingly smaller parcels, civic groups such as the Seminary Hill Association with Dorothy Starr and the Civil War Roundtable led by Moreau Chambers were advocating that the city of Alexandria acquire the property in order to preserve the historic value represented in the earthen fort, one of the forts constructed in the defense of Washington.


The appeal, begun in 1953-54 met a receptive city government which was rapidly expanding city services such as streets, water and sewer and parkland in the newly acquired area. In fact, Alexandria City council had set aside $25,000 of a parkland acquisition bond issue specifically for parks in the west end. The need was especially acute at Fort Ward because of its proximity to Shirley Highway which terminated at King Street and the existence of Fairlington, a World War II government housing community built in 1944.


The Alexandria City Council endorsed the spending of the $25,000 for the acquisition of Fort Ward in 1954, specifically for the purchase of approximately 20 acres then being subdivided as the “Eagle Crest Development.” But upon completing the purchase the City began to realize that it had acquired only the west face of Fort Ward, the part that had confronted the Confederates in 1861 and not the more historically significant interior or eastern side of the Fort where the living quarters and other buildings had stood.


A community of African Americans held the land on the eastern slope of Fort Ward, and many of them did not want to sell. At this point the city realized that Fort Ward could be a part of the Civil War Centennial that was rapidly approaching and decided to move ahead with the acquisition of the approximately 44 acres that make up the current park today.


City acquisition of what is the eastern portion of Fort Ward began in the 1950’s and did not end until the 1980’s, although the Park opened on Memorial Day 1964, in time for what remained of the Civil War Centennial.
Because of the pressures associated with impending development of the land at Fort Ward, and the desire to open the Park to visitors in time for the Civil War Centennial, normal processes common in public land acquisition and subsequent operation of park land were ignored or rushed in acquiring Fort Ward. As late as the 1980’s it was discovered that the city did not hold clear title to some of the small parcels within the Park.


Although the city pursued traditional techniques in trying to understand the significance of Fort Ward itself, employing a professional archaeologist, Edward Larrabee, an architect Herbert Mark and an historian William Hershey in 1961-62, a complete inventory of the Park’s other cultural and historical resources, was not conducted and has never been done. Evidence of Native American presence at Fort Ward exists but has not been examined.


Following an archeological excavation in the summer of 1961 inside the fort itself and the compilation of the military history and significance of Fort Ward, including the design of a museum along with discussions of what its contents might include, the city in 1962 began planning for the use of the larger area now encompassed by the park.


Early planning documents prepared by and for the city clearly show the existence of at least two cemeteries within the outer boundary of the park, not including the Oakland Baptist Church cemetery – which is privately owned but also lies within the external boundaries of the Park. On the west side of the Fort itself, maps and written correspondence indicate the existence of a family cemetery later identified as belonging to the Jackson family, one of the first post civil war African American families to make the land encompassing Fort Ward their home.


On the eastern side of the Park, existing gravestones outside the Oakland Baptist Church Cemetery boundary, were clearly represented on city maps. What is less clear is whether city planners of the time knew or understood that other graves perhaps marked, perhaps not, also lay scattered around the park. It is now generally believed that a total of perhaps nine burial areas exist within Fort Ward.


The existence of these marked and unmarked graves, family cemetery sites and marked graveyards offered a tantalizing clue to another history, another less often told story, that resides at Fort Ward. African American families began making Fort Ward their home as early as 1867 and managed through great obstacles to create a community known as “the Hill” that existed for over a hundred years until the city bought the property in the 1960’s. That African American community still exists in the area of Alexandria, known over time as “The Seminary,” located near where T.C. Williams High School stands today.


In an area of the Park, now separated from the rest of the Park, city planners originally envisioned an open area. However, shortly after marking the area “open,” city planners reversed direction and designated the area as “overflow parking.” On top of the “overflow parking” drawing someone has marked the word “grave” and a small rectangle. The parking lot was never built.
What did happen, however, was that the city, without, as far as is known, a required special use permit, did eventually evolve the use of this formerly designated “open space” area, into what the city began calling its arboretum. And, despite the fact that at least one grave was clearly marked with a tombstone, began to use the area as a place to store equipment and vehicles.


In 1982, Park employee Wanda Dowell let a successful effort to place the entire 44-acre park on the National Register of Historic Places. More recently, with Alexandria sharing in the budgetary shortfalls common among area jurisdictions, the city began to look closely at what revenue generating ideas its agencies might employ to mitigate the impact of a flat or even declining revenue stream. For Fort Ward, among the largest of Alexandria’s city parks, the possibility existed of significant rent increases among those groups who might be interested in renting picnic space at Fort Ward. The city allows liquor among those who rent space with the application of a permit to serve alcohol.


With the growth of population in Alexandria, combined with a growing desire by inhabitants to recreation opportunities, pressures on Fort Ward Park began to mount. Additionally the city lacked a coherent operational plan for the management of Fort Ward (as well as other large city parks). As a result, agency officials, striving to meet often conflicting goals, found they lacked clear direction in making decisions that could harm the not even well understood cultural and historical resources on the 44 acre park.


As a result of these converging forces, individuals and citizen groups in Alexandria began to speak out for the need to reexamine city priorities in the operation of the Park. In response the city led an intensive citizen involvement effort to gain insight into what citizens felt about management and use of the park. One of the primary needs as defined by citizens was the lack of and need for a master plan for the park that would help guide city managers in future operations. Citizens articulated that they wanted to be involved in city management decisions that would substantively alter park functions.


Citizens also indicated a strong desire to identify and preserve the marked and unmarked graves in the park and to better understand the story of those African American families who called Fort Ward home.


As a result of citizen action and the efforts of academics to bring the cultural history of the park but lying outside the fort walls, the city has begun an effort to identify and locate the cultural and historic resources as a necessary prerequisite for the later development of a management plan.


The Office of Historic Alexandria and the Office of the City Manager have announced plans to form commissions to advise the city as to how to proceed in better understanding the cultural jewel the city calls Fort Ward Historical Park and Museum.

Seeking to Address Injustices by Dave Cavanaugh. October 9-10, 2009.

October 9-10, 2009
Advancing Social Justice in Times of Crisis
American University’s 6th Annual
Public Anthropology Conference
Dave Cavanaugh

Question:  How can citizen activist seeking to address injustices within our community bring about the changes we desire during challenging economic and political times?

Upon completion of the presentation audience members will appreciate the history of the Fort Ward area and how it can be used to protect the existing historical park from recreational expansion and provide an opportunity to diversify the interpretation of Civil War history.  The presentation will suggest practical ideas to facilitate a more collaborative community based planning process.

Thank you. I appreciate being here and speaking to you regarding our efforts to better diversify the interpretation and educational experience of those visiting Fort Ward by including the African American contribution.

The coalition of citizens interested in protecting Fort Ward arose out of concern for the future of the park. City officials and the Recreation Department and Commission had begun taking steps that would have dramatically changed the historic character of the park. Plans were in place to convert a portion of Fort Ward Park, a park listed on the National Register of Historic Places, to a major recreation and district maintenance facility. The plan was to increase use of the park, enlarging picnic and parking areas, making it a venue for large events.

They City of Alexandria also planned to increase use of an existing maintenance yard that over time had been expanded by Recreation and Parks without any public involvement. The maintenance yard was being used to store City owned trucks, supplies, compost, gravel and other park supplies. They had converted the maintenance facility, located next to the subdivision, into a district maintenance facility for temporary storage of trash. The physical size of the maintenance had been increased by filling in an area believed to contain grave sites. The compacted soil increased water run-off into an existing African American Cemetery located within the Park boundaries, undermining grave markers and burial sites.

Efforts by adjacent property owners expressing their concerns were brushed off as a Not in My Back Yard Issue (NIMBY). There was this notion the adjacent property owners were only interested in their narrow concerns and did not fully understand the increased demand for use of City parks.

However, African American History has not been mainstreamed into the interpretation of Civil War history in Alexandria, Virginia. Little has been written regarding the population of Contrabands that flooded into the Alexandria area. Homeless, destitute, malnourished and in poor health, families built shacks (huts) and were forced to rely on humanitarian efforts of benevolent organizations and the Union Army. Their suffering and survival are part of the Civil War story.

The increased awareness and interest in the unique African American experience is beginning to attract broader community support. The planned Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and local African American Museums that have sprouted up over the last ten are examples renewed interest. This public response is fed by a public willingness to look back at the struggle and progress made as a result of the civil rights movement of the 1960s and 70s.

While James M. McPherson and other noted Civil War writers have elaborated on the active and crucial role of African Americans played during the Civil, this awareness has not widespread outside of academic circles. Many Americans who saw the 1990 movie, Glory were surprised to find that African American, wearing Union blue uniforms fought gallantly during the Civil War.

Near the end of the War, 1865, the Federal Government, through the Freedman’s Bureau, took on the humanitarian role of helping feed, shelter and providing clothes for the freedman. Although circumstances for African American families certainly varied, many had picked up and left home. Many families were homeless, hungry, destitute having to survive under wartime and uncertain conditions. With the end of the war, government jobs and demand for labor increased and new economic relationships began to develop. Over a period of time, African Americans helped rebuild the Seminary and Episcopal High School, and later. . . on their own, being able to buy property, establish churches and provide schools for their child.

The active participation of the African American community is absolutely essential in gaining public support to protect and eventually share their history at Fort Ward. It is the history of people brought to America as slaves, the struggle for freedom, enduring that makes their story unique and compelling. History has been used to keep African Americans in their place and marginalize their contributions. The City of Alexandria appropriated land from the African American communities to build Fort Ward and T.C. Williams High School. As Adrienne Washington has reminded coalition members, “They can take our land, but not our history.”

In 2007 the dedication for a new T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, no mention was made of the colored public school dedicated 70 years earlier on the same site. Douglas Wood, a former slave whose father served and died in the Civil War, obtained community support and funding for a four room school. The former T.C. Williams High School built in the 1960s was featured in the Hollywood film, “Remember the Titans”.

Background

At the beginning of the War, Washington, D.C. was totally unprepared. Troops from New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island were rushed to Washington to provide limited security for the new Lincoln administration. On April 23, Virginia voted by a small margin to secede from the Union. Early the next morning, Federal troops moved across the bridges (Long Bridge, the Aqueduct Bridge in Georgetown, and Chain Bridge) and by steamer to Alexandria to secure the highlands overlooking the District of Columbia and the City of Alexandria. Work began immediately to build forts near the bridges and secure the rail lines and major crossroads.

Fort Ward is one of 68 enclosed forts that eventually circled the nation’s capital during the Civil War. The Fort was located 3 miles northwest of Alexandria was to guard the approaches to Alexandria via routes from the West, Leesburg Pike (Route 7) and overlooked Bailey’s and Balls Cross Roads with a view of the rebel forces at Munson’s Hill. Other nearby Forts included Fort Worth, Fort Williams. After the Battle of 1st Manassas, and the increasing numbers of sick and wounded soldiers, the Theological Seminary was converted to a General Hospital with 925 beds. This is one of many hospitals in Alexandria and Washington serving the growing numbers of sick and wounded where African Americans worked.

The so called “contraband” and later “freedman” settled at the Fort and nearby areas near the Theological Seminary after the Civil War. Later families were able to buy property, build modest homes and started churches, schools and a fraternal lodge.

Telling the Civil War story today arouses strong passions and feelings even after nearly 150 years. This is no less true today in Alexandria Virginia when debating the “occupation” of Alexandria by Union forces, calling Confederate soldiers “rebels” or idolizing Robert E. Lee can begin a passionate debate.

Only somewhat reluctantly historians begin to describe the important role the City of Alexandria played as a major Union Army supply depot, transportation center, hospital center and destination for thousands of former slaves seeking refuge. The War was a tragic event that restored the Union and abolished slavery.

Slave families moved in-mass to the safety of Union lines to achieve long sought freedom. On foot and by wagon they moved down dirt roads, crossed streams into Washington, D.C., Alexandria and the outlying areas seeking refuge, food, and work. They helped build the forts, worked at the hospitals, and served as teamsters, cooks, laundresses, dock workers, ambulance drivers. During the War as many as 185,000 “contraband” enlisted as U.S. Colored Troops and fought and served as Union troops. The so called “contraband” and later “freedman” settled at the Fort and nearby areas near the Theological Seminary after the Civil War. Later families were able to buy property, build modest homes and started churches, schools and a fraternal lodge.

I would like to take a minute to introduce you to some of the events and people that make the history of the Fort Ward area so interesting and relevant to us today.

Cassius F. Lee, Robert E. Lee’s first cousin, lived nearby on his property called Menokin with his wife and family. On 20 April, 1861, three days after the Virginia convention adopted an ordinance of secession; Robert E. Lee resigned his military commission. Upon learning of his cousin’s decision to go south, he wrote a letter expressing his hope that he, Robert E. Lee, would be an instrument for peace. Cassius F. Lee did not move south as many of his friends did. He sought to protect his Menokin from being vandalized by Union troops. But his contentious nature raised suspicion of him being a southern sympathizer. After being arrested and jailed at the Capital Prison in the District of Columbia, he decided to move his family to the safety of Canada.

Burney McKnight, an African American (born abt 1848), is shown as living and working for Cassius F. Lee, Robert E. Lee’s first cousin, (1870 U.S. Census) as a domestic servant. Burney’s mother is Harriet Shorts. Harriet and her husband Burr Shorts paid for a land survey in 1879 and five years later receive the title for 10 acres of land at Fort Ward. Burney will later marry William Terrell and be one of the original founders of the Oakland Baptist Church. She died in 1930 and is buried in the Oakland Baptist Church Cemetery at Fort Ward.

Douglas Wood and his wife lived nearby. His father, William Wood, fled from his owner, enlisted and served as private in the U.S. Colored Troops (USCT), at Petersburg, Virginia. He became ill and was transported to L’Overture Hospital in Alexandria, where he died.

After the Civil War, Douglas was reunited with his mother, Susan, who had been taken south by her mistress during the War. Douglas, a chauffeur for a prominent banker in Alexandria, later obtained Julius Rosenwald funding for the construction of Seminary School for colored children on 2 acres of land he had sold to Fairfax County. The four room school house was located where T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria is located and was in existence until about 1950.

Julius Rosenwald was a part owner of Sears, Robuck and Company in 1895 and later served as its president from 1908 to 1922. He was a wealthy philanthropist who started a school building program in 1917 that was responsible for building over 5000 colored schools in the South. The inspiration for the idea was a result of a friendship between Booker T. Washington and Julius Rosenwald. A committee associated with the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, now Tuskegee University, oversaw the building program.

The Julius Rosenwald helped fund the Seminary School and the Kemper School in nearby Green Springs, in what is now Arlington. The program required the local black community to contribute cash and in-kind donations to match the Rosenwald grant. As a condition to obtaining the funding, the Fairfax County School Board had to build the school to certain design specifications, provide new desks and blackboards for each classroom, as well as two sanitary privies, and agree to maintain the school.

Lancelot Blackford, (born 23 Feb 1837, died 23 May 1914) was a former Confederate officer, and highly regarded headmaster at the Episcopal High School for Boys from 1870-1913. His diaries written entries written from 1873-1913 provide a interesting account of his daily activities including his duties, anxieties, discipline of the boys, social life and a glimpse of his feelings towards African Americans.

Harriet Cazenove, a widow, built a house and moved to the Seminary Hill area from Alexandria around 1856. In January 1858, her brother placed an advertisement in the Alexandria Gazette:

[W]anted to hire for present year, for Mrs. Harriet Cazenove, residing of the Hill, Theological Seminary, Fairfax County Virginia, a man and woman, slaves without incumbrance. The woman a cook or washer, the man to attend about the garden and stable.

Harriet and her son evacuated soon after Union troops marched into Alexandria. She fled initially to Chantilly where her mother lived. It is not known when she returned to her home near the Seminary.

Clare Adams , the daughter of Harriet and Burr Shorts, born in 1865. She later married Robert Adams and given three acres by her parents in 1898. Later that year she donated ¼ of acre of land to Fairfax County in 1898 for a one room school for colored students. The school was in operation until about 1925. Clare worked at the Seminary and for other families during different periods of her life. She was revered by family and friends and was one of the early founders of the Oakland Baptist Church. She is buried on land she had owned, now part of the Fort Ward Park.

James Jackson was born in Fauquier County in 1848. The 1870 U.S. Census records he was a Coachman at the Episcopal High School. On August 11, 1894, Lancelot M. Blackford writes in his diary: “Jem Jackson finished hauling coal last evening. The job was worth to him $58.75. In all 50 tons were hauled”

In February 1894 received a deed for 11.5 acres of land at Fort Ward. He died in 1923 is buried at Fort Ward, probably at the Jackson family cemetery.

What I have learned so far. I would share some thoughts I have on what I have learned working as volunteer on the Fort Ward Project.


The African American contribution is not readily acknowledged or valued. In the early 20th Century, American history text books in the South downplay slavery and its brutality. In Margaret McMillian’s book, Dangerous Games, The Uses and Abuses of History, she describes how “even black children in segregated schools were presented with a picture of the South in which slavery and racism were largely absent.”

At Fort Ward, the existence of former slaves in large numbers and their contribution is only now being recognized. What we leave out of text books is as or more important than what we leave in.

Cost and Benefits: Civic activist must be mindful of the cost, funding, and economic benefits of any proposal during tough economic times. During difficult economic times, expectation must be reduced.

In the case of Fort Ward, many of the visitors are predominately white civil war enthusiast with little knowledge of the presence of African Americans in large numbers in the area of the Fort. Fort construction, types of artillery, and a “Day in Camp” have been the traditional mainstay of Fort interpretive history. Updating the interpretation of history at the forts to include the African American experience, can help increase tourism.

African American Involvement: Social justice requires African Americans be directly involved in recording, documenting and describing their experience and contribution. The African American experience is different. For too long African Americans have not been actively sought out by city officials, staffs, contractors and academics to participate in local history projects. As a result White dominated institutions have ignored important elements of their story. This has lead to half-hearted attempts to present their history, e.g., virtual tours, self-guided tours, and podcasts.

Better Utilization of Resources: Fewer resources at the local level provide an opportunity for managers to creatively use citizens and community activist to meet time critical projects. This does not infer excluding professional historians.

Restructuring the Public Meeting Process: Managers should have faith in the public participation process. The process should be open and involve ad hoc groups to assist in making recommendations. City Department staffs should break away from City “officialdom” (you are invited to a public meeting) and instead invite organized groups to plan and conduct meetings, share in making recommendation for setting priorities and using public resources.

A park and the history of people within the major period of American history is a public shared resource. The public involvement process should be revamped to constructively engage members of the community. Citizens can provide supporting rationale for staff decisions and recommendations. Decisions should not be made unilaterally or out of an abundance of arrogance.

Set clear, definable goals. It is essential activist clearly anticipate and define their goals early on. History can motivate and inspire and it is often necessary to introduce possibilities. Providing ideas to City officials, staffs, commission members allows them to begin envisioning possibilities. In the case of Fort Ward, the goal is threefold, 1) remove the maintenance yard, 2) restore and return land to the park, 4) protect known grave sites and produce an interpretive history that attracts a more diverse visitor to the park.

The Fort Ward Project is a wonderful case study of civic activism. If you have any questions I would be happy to answer them.

Thank you

Fort Ward by Dave Cavanaugh. May 1, 2009

From: "Dave Cavanaugh"
To: "Rich Baier" , "Lance Mallamo"
Sent: Friday, May 1, 2009 12:28:37 PM
Subject: Fort Ward


Appreciate you taking the time to listen to our frustrations regarding management of the park and the need for a community based plan for the Historic Fort Ward Park.

A diverse group of concerned individuals and groups have rallied together in response to insensitive management of a historic resource. I understand the budget issues and the need to "pick battles." My experience as a land management official is that you do the easy things first, those that are inexpensive, easy to implement and can make a susbstantive difference. This includes removing a metal ticket booth that is not being used, basically stored on site, and an unsightly structure at the walk entrance. This is an eaaasy management call.

The primary management goal is to protect the resource and provide a safe, enjoyable outdoor experience for those using the park.

Glenn, Tom and myself have worked at the management level for land managing agencies at the Federal level. We understand the importance of multiple use and involving the diverse groups in making sound land management decisions. To encourage public involvement, it is important the stakeholders have confidence and trust in an open public participation process.

The listening part is easy. Maintaining objectivity and taking actions that respond to public concerns is harder.

I am concerned that the public involvement process is being characterized as not being sufficiently representative of the community and that the comments represent a NIMBY effort. After three meetings and numerous thoughtful comments, this is a mistaken view of the citizen participation process. We don't need a "do over."

I believe if you and your staff look at the comments, you will find they are in general reasonable and reflect the current economic conditions. They are not radical and many of the suggestions can be implemented immediately or in a reasonable short term, e.g., two years.

I would like to see City staff consolidate the comments, develop and frame outstanding issues, and provide a workable strategy for resolving the issues identified. What was missing from the earlier "community listening meetings" was the City (RPCA/OHA) promised short term-long term actions in response to the comments.

Take care and I look foward to a more substantive response at the April 13, 2009 public meeting.



Dave Cavanaugh
(703) 869-8362