Stories of U.S. Exhibit Showcases Alexandria’s History Through Rare Collections

By Daniel Lee, Office of Historic Alexandria

Alexandria, VA – The Office of Historic Alexandria invites the public to a new exhibit at the Alexandria History Museum at The Lyceum. The exhibit opened on June 11 and runs through January 2028. Marking the 250th anniversary of the United States, Stories of U.S. features recently acquired objects, many of which are available to the public for the first time. The exhibit curators want visitors, either in the museum or online, to consider these three questions:

• How do these collections speak to our shared experiences?
• What significant moments do they represent?
• What do these artifacts tell us about the diverse people who shaped Alexandria?

The exhibit showcases artifacts as large as historic buildings and as personal as oral histories, and includes material articles crafted by artisans, required by local businesses, and kept in the homes of Alexandria’s residents.

One of the prominent artifacts in the exhibit is a Bracket Clock made approximately between 1788 and 1799, marked “Mordecai Miller.” Miller lived and worked in Alexandria as a silversmith, clockmaker, and incredibly successful shipping merchant. A member of the local Quaker society, Miller used his profits and standing in the community to advocate for Alexandria’s African American population. This included assisting with emancipation efforts and testifying in support of free Blacks when they had to prove their free status. Miller and his son Robert also contributed to the development of the early free Black neighborhood of Hayti by building and renting homes to free African Americans on South Royal Street.

The exhibit does not confine itself to physical artifacts. Another component of Stories of U.S. is the oral histories taken from descendants of Alexandrians buried in Frederick Douglass Memorial Cemetery. The cemetery was established in 1895 as a non-denominational African American cemetery, and the last known burial was in 1975. One of the interviewees, Pastor Myron Contee, commented, “It does good for me to know how long my family has history in Alexandria… how many people can tell you that their family has been representing Alexandria for 150 years?”

Stories of U.S. includes artifacts from previous American celebrations. One example is the U.S. Bicentennial Virginia License plate displayed by Alexandrian Raymond Gallagher on his 1972 Pontiac. Keen observers will notice the thirteen stars surrounding the George Washington silhouette.

A project documenting the Parker-Gray Historic District, funded by an Alexandria Commission on the Arts grant, shows a more recent version of Alexandria’s history. The exhibit highlights a 1985 photo by Carol Siegel of DeeDee’s Beauty Shop (also listed as Dee’s Beauty Shop). The photo depicts the neighborhood beauty shop formerly located at 1022 Pendleton Street, a property serving as a rooming house and beauty salon after a previous life as a bakery. The photo centers the shop as a cultural anchor of business, creativity, and conversation.

Stories of U.S. not only shares the Office of Historic Alexandria’s collection with the public, but gives Alexandrians a chance to learn how the collections are conserved. Highlights of recent conservation projects include a portrait of Clara Lee Chandlee Leadbeater, the Friendship Firehouse Museum’s 1858 hose reel carriage, and the 1851 hand-operated suction fire engine.

We invite you to explore Stories of U.S., a new lens to view Alexandria’s history.

Find out more about the Stories of U.S. exhibit at https://www.alexandriava.gov/museums/stories-of-us-collections-capture-our-history.