Alexandria marks Black History Month with 30th annual poster exhibit, museum programs, library events

City Council issued a proclamation Tuesday night recognizing February as Black History Month, kicking off a slate of events across the city’s museums and libraries.

The Alexandria Black History Museum will host its annual Martin Luther King Jr. poster exhibition at Charles Houston Recreation Center, 901 Wythe St. Now in its 30th year, the exhibit features a record 130-plus submissions from Alexandria City Public Schools students in grades 2-5, with this year’s theme “Dreaming Together: Learning from the Past, Shaping the Future.”

An awards ceremony will be held Sunday, Feb. 1 from 1 to 3 p.m., typically drawing more than 200 students and their families. The posters will remain on display through March 1.

“We are looking forward to the month of February, when we encourage all citizens to explore Alexandria’s rich and varied Black history,” said Audrey Davis, director of the Alexandria Black History Museum. “We’d like our citizens to remember that Black history is American history and celebrated 365 days of the year.”

The museum and the Office of Historic Alexandria will host a free concert on Sunday, Feb. 8 at 3 p.m. featuring the Washington Revels Jubilee Voices. “Singing the Journey: Still We Rise” will explore themes of freedom, resilience, and joy through African American music from the Civil War to the present. The concert sold out last year.

On Saturday, Feb. 28, at 11 a.m., the museum will host a family program with authors Jeff Gottesfeld and Michelle Y. Green, along with illustrator and Howard University graduate Kim Holt, for their new book “Fight for the Right to Read: Samuel Wilbert Tucker and the 1939 Sit-Down Strike for Library Reading Equality.” The program is free and suitable for families with children in second grade and up.

Residents can also visit the Freedom House Museum and walk the African American Heritage Trail along the waterfront.

The Alexandria Library is offering programs across its branches throughout the month.

“We do not take for granted this proclamation, given the times in which we live,” said Rose Dawson, director of the Alexandria Library. “It is amazing and impressive that this council recognizes and still honors the celebration of Black history in this way.”

Events include:

• Beatley Library — Story times on Mondays featuring books by Black authors and illustrators
• Duncan Library — Creatives Club celebrating Black innovation
• Barrett Library — National African American Read-In; volunteer readers still needed
• Burke Library — Quilting program

The library’s Special Collections will open an exhibit featuring photographs by Elric Murphy, a local Black photographer who documented African American life in Alexandria from the 1940s through the 1960s. Char McCargo Bah and Rita Harris, Murphy’s daughter, will present a program on Feb. 21.

The Alexandria Health Department will host a symposium on Saturday, Feb. 7, for National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

This year’s national theme from the Association for the Study of African American Life and History is “A Century of Black History Commemorations,” marking 100 years since the organization originated Negro History Week in 1926, which later expanded to the full month.

Councilman John Chapman read the proclamation, noting Alexandria’s ongoing commitment to the Community Remembrance Project and All Alexandria Equity Initiative.

For full event details, visit alexblackhistory.org and alexlibraryva.org.