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The city will gather Thursday, April 23, to remember Joseph McCoy, an Alexandria native who was lynched in the early morning hours of that date in 1897, at a free evening program hosted by the Alexandria Community Remembrance Project.
The secular event will begin at 7 p.m. at Roberts Memorial United Methodist Church, 606 S. Washington St., with a reception starting at 6:30 p.m. It marks the second time the historic Black church, which served as the home church for the McCoy family, will host the annual remembrance.
The Rev. Dr. Rodney Sadler, a widely published scholar who leads the Center for Social Justice and Reconciliation at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina, will deliver the keynote address, titled "Governed by Fear and Hate: The Tools of the Supremacist State." Sadler plans to examine the historic use of violence by those entrusted with authority and power.
Sadler, whose work focuses on the intersection of race, faith and politics, is a graduate of Howard University and a former senior fellow at George Mason University's Center for World Religion, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution.
In the first hour of April 23, 1897, McCoy was lynched at the corner of Lee and Cameron streets. He had been accused, arrested and then seized from police custody by a mob that local authorities refused to stop. None of the mob's members were ever held accountable.
"While Joseph McCoy's civil rights were violated and dismissed, his accusers and murderers were protected," organizers said.
The lynching traumatized Alexandria's Black community, which endured violent nights afterward as armed citizens, police and the Alexandria Light Infantry patrolled the streets searching for what organizers described as imaginary agitators and insurrectionists.
Since 2019, the Alexandria Community Remembrance Project has worked to share this history and honor McCoy's memory. The city-wide initiative is dedicated to helping residents understand their shared history in an effort to build a welcoming community and culture of belonging.
Parking for the event is available at Demaine Funeral Home and on nearby streets where permitted.
