Web Site Improvements

The Living Legends board is reviewing options for improving its website.  We've already made some changes.  The Legends' names have been added under their photos and their catalog stories are linked. The longer features are linked under All Legends at left once they are published.

Check it out at www.AlexandriaLegends.com.

Nominate a Legend for 2015

Summer is here!

There's no better way to take advantage of your free time than thinking about who you would like to nominate as a 2015 Living Legend of Alexandria! Nominations are due October 14, 2014.

Criteria for being a Legend:

Creation of something that improves the quality of life in Alexandria that would not likely have existed without that person's vision and determination to make it happen.

Those currently running for or holding political office are not eligible for consideration.

Keep an eye on your email, as we get closer to the nominations deadline, we will send out an official call for nominations!

Congratulations to Audrey Davis

Congratulations to Living Legends of Alexandria board member Audrey Davis on her appointment as Director of the Alexandria Black History Museum. Davis has worked at the museum for the past 21 years and has served as Acting Director since July 1, 2012, when the previous Director, Louis Hicks, retired from City service . Davis was selected from among six finalists after a nationwide search.

Audrey Davis at the Black History Museum during recent
Civil Rights Saturday program
Photo by Nina Tisara

Throughout her tenure with the City of Alexandria, Davis has been recognized for her exemplary service and commitment to Alexandria and Virginia. In 2004, she was appointed by Virginia Governor Mark R. Warner to the Board of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and Public Policy in Charlottesville, and she was reappointed to that Board in 2007 by Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine, serving until her term ended in 2010. In 2008, she received a special merit award from former Alexandria City Manager James Hartmann for her contribution to the Freedmen's Cemetery Memorial Design Competition Committee. In 2009, she was honored with the Salute to Women Awards Vola Lawson Award by the Alexandria Commission on Women as that year's City of Alexandria employee who had made the greatest impact to improve the role of women and girls in the City. In 2012 she was an essential part of the OHA team that achieved accreditation of all departmental facilities, including for the first time the Alexandria Black History Museum, as a “museum system” by the American Alliance of Museums. That designation, achieved by only eight municipal agencies in the United States, confirms the achievement of the highest standards and best practices recognized in the museum profession. This year Davis also was awarded the Social Justice Award presented by Russell Temple CME Church of Alexandria, in honor of the work the museum has done during the last two years to support social causes in Alexandria. 

Davis has also served as president of the Alexandria Historical Society; a founding member and current member of the Advisory Council of Virginia Africana: The Network of Museum, History and Preservation Professionals; and past president of the Virginia Association of Museums. She is also a member of the American Alliance of Museums and a member of the Association of African American Museums.

In 2013, History Press published African Americans of Alexandria, Virginia: Beacons of Light in the 20th Century. Audrey Davis was one of five authors of the book, which also included Char McCargo Bah, Christa Watters, Gwen Brown-Henderson and James Henson. The book chronicles the life of 63 African American men and women whose actions made a difference in the historic fabric of Alexandria, Virginia between 1920-1965. The book was the fourth biggest seller for History Press in 2013 and will be going into its third printing soon. The proceeds from the book go to support the Alexandria Black History Museum.

 

Civil Rights Saturday

The Civil Rights Saturday program cosponsored by the Alexandria Black History Museum and Living Legends of Alexandria was so successful we plan to host another this summer. Stay tuned for details.

The free interactive program about Civil Rights locally and nationally featured an overview by acting museum director Audrey Davis of the current exhibition "Sit Down and Take a Stand:  Samuel Wilbert Tucker and the 1939 Alexandria Library Sit-in."  The 75th anniversary of the historic event occurs this year and was one of the earliest civil rights actions in the United States.

Former hate crimes prosecutor Howard Feinstein chronicled some of  his experiences in the deep South including a reading from his book Fire on the Bayou: True Tales from the Civil Rights Battlefront.

And as part of Family Legends of Alexandria, adults and children joined local storyteller and book artist Sushmita Mazumdar for a bookmaking activity. Family Legends of Alexandria is a program of Living Legends of Alexandria.

 

 

 

Photos by Nina Tisara/Living Legends of Alexandria

Civil Rights Saturday

Press Release: May 1, 2014

For Immediate Release

Contact: Audrey Davis, 703.746.4356

 Civil Rights Saturday - A Free Interactive Activity

Teaching Families about the Civil Rights Locally and Nationally

The Alexandria Black History Museum, in cooperation with the Living Legends of Alexandria/Family Legends Project, will present Civil Rights Saturday on May 24, 2014, from 2 to 4:30 p.m. This educational and fun event is free and open to the public.

This event will feature a book signing for Fire on the Bayou: True Tales from The Civil Rights Battlefront, written by Howard Feinstein. This new book chronicles Mr. Feinstein’s experiences as a federal hate crimes prosecutor in the deep South. Guests are invited to hear a reading from the author, and he will be available to sign copies of the book.  Fire on the Bayou: True Tales from The Civil Rights Battlefront has been nominated for a 2014 Dayton Literary Peace Prize.

Afterwards, join acting Director Audrey Davis for an overview the featured exhibition, “Sit Down and Take a Stand: Samuel Wilbert Tucker and 1939 Alexandria Library Sit-in.” The 75^th anniversary of this historic event occurs in 2014, and was one of the earliest civil rights actions in the United States.

To conclude the program, families may join artist Sushmita Mazumdar for storytelling / book making activity. Share a story of a personal civil rights experience. Participants will make a book they can take home which can become a family keepsake.  This activity is suitable for adults and children 10 years and over.

Space is limited, and reservations are recommended. Participation will be limited to the first 20 people who reserve. For information and reservations, please call 703-746-4356.

The Alexandria Black History Museum is located at 902 Wythe Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314, in the Parker-Gray Historic District.  The Museum is five blocks from the Braddock Road Metro Station on the Yellow or Blue lines. Street parking is available. For more information, please visit www.alexblackhistory.org . 

 

Civil Rights Saturday

A Free Interactive Activity – Teaching Families about the Civil Rights Movement

The Alexandria Black History Museum, in cooperation with the Living Legends of Alexandria/Family Legends Project, will present Civil Rights Saturday on May 24, 2014, from 2 to 4:30 p.m. This free interactive event is open to the public. 

This event will feature a book signing for Fire on the Bayou: True Tales from The Civil Rights Battlefront, written by Howard Feinstein. This new book chronicles Mr. Feinstein’s experiences as a federal hate crimes prosecutor in the deep South. Guests are invited to hear a reading from the author, and he will be available to sign copies of the book. The book has been nominated for the 2014 Dayton Literary Peace Prize.

Afterwards, join acting Director Audrey Davis for an overview the featured exhibition, Sit Down and Take a Stand: Samuel Wilbert Tucker and 1939 Alexandria Library Sit-in. The 75^th anniversary of this historic event occurs in 2014. It is thought that Alexandria’s 1939 sit-in was one of the earliest civil rights actions in the United States.

Then join artist Sushmita Mazumdar for storytelling and a book making activity. Adults and children can tell a tale of someone they know who had an experience during the fight for civil rights in America. Participants will make a book they can take home. Suitable for children 10 years and over.

Space is limited, and reservations are recommended. Participation will be limited to the first 20 people who reserve. For information and reservations, please call 703-746-4356.

The Alexandria Black History Museum is located at 902 Wythe Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314, in the Parker-Gray Historic District.  The Museum is five blocks from the Braddock Road Metro Station on the Yellow or Blue lines. Street parking is available. For more information, please visit www.alexblackhistory.org . 

2014 Alexandria Women’s History Guided Tour - May 3

The Alexandria Commission for Women, the Friends of the Alexandria Commission for Women, Historic Alexandria and the Living Legends of Alexandria invite you to attend the 2014 Alexandria Women’s History Guided Tour, Sunday, May 3.

The Women’s History Tour covers many different sites in a one mile abbreviated tour. The tour highlights the achievements of women in Alexandria. Through the dedication and advocacy of Susan Lowell Butler, the Commission for Women, and Friends, the stories of Alexandria’s women, from past to present, are highlighted during the Alexandria's Women’s History Tour.

The tour will meet at 1:30 p.m. at the Alexandria Visitors Center at Ramsey House 221 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22314, it will also include a stop at The Living Legends of Alexandria Portraits of Women Legends: 2007-2013 exhibit which is a photo-documentary project to identify, honor and chronicle Alexandria's history makers. The  exhibition is presented by Prudential PenFed Realty.  A small reception with light refreshments will be held after the tour at the Lloyd House located at 220 N. Washington Street.  The event is free.

Please RSVP online or by email: friendsofalexwomen@gmail.com by May 2, 2014.