Special February Tours of the Freedom House Museum During Black History Month
ALEXANDRIA,VA–The Office of Historic Alexandria and the Northern Virginia Urban League are excited to announce a collaboration for Black History Month. On Saturdays during February, Freedom House Museum will be open from 1 to 5 p.m. at 1315 Duke St.
The Freedom House Museum was once the headquarters and holding pen for the largest domestic slave trading firm in the United States, Franklin and Armfield. Enslaved people were brought from the Chesapeake Bay area and forced to the slave markets in Natchez, Mississippi and New Orleans either by foot or ship. After Franklin and Armfield vacated the building in 1836, James Birch, the trader who had sold Solomon Northup, author of Twelve Years a Slave, in Washington, D.C., moved his operation into the building in 1858. Birch and his partner used the building as their headquarters until 1861, when the city was occupied by the Union Army.
The building is currently owned by the Northern Virginia Urban League and together with the Office of Historic Alexandria, we invite you to visit the museum in this historic reminder of slavery.
Admission is $5 per person. Tickets can be purchased online, or by cash or check at the door.
Space is limited and reservations are recommended. Groups of 7 or more should contact 703.746.4739 at least one week in advance to arrange a time to visit.
