Crowds of visitors enter a picturesque brick rowhouse nestled in a line of buildings with similar architectural design in Old Town, Alexandria. While the building opened as a museum more than a decade ago, it once housed the largest slave trading operation in pre-Civil War United States. The Freedom House Museum is one of many stops in “Encounter Black Catholic History,” a guide in the Diocese Youth Ministry’s “Encounters” program.
The series provides 10 extensive guides for activities that promote enrichment in non-classroom environments. Ranging from a Franciscan friar’s recipes to walking tours of historic Catholic sites, the program encourages families and small groups to encounter God in new ways.
The Encounter Black Catholic History guide encourages participants to visit St. Joseph Church in Alexandria, a historically Black parish founded in 1915. It also recommends the Alexandria African American Heritage Memorial Park: nine acres of lush foliage, wetlands and sculptures dedicated to African American contributions in Alexandria.
Other sites in the guide include the Edmonson Sisters Sculpture and Historical Marker, a depiction of the enslaved Edmonson sisters who didn’t gain freedom until 1848; the Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery, a burial ground for around 1,800 African Americans who fled to Alexandria during the Civil War; and Freedom House Museum, which displays the horrors of the African American slave trade.
Participants can easily access the stops through a Google Maps list and are encouraged to listen to a curated Spotify playlist throughout their trip. Other resources include a sample schedule, packing list, reflective questions and local food options.
The guide includes a quote from Sister Thea Bowman, a pioneer of racial equality in the church, who calls on the Catholic Church to “walk with” the Black community. The guide also challenges Catholics to “prayerfully examine the effects of racism and how Jesus calls us to empathy, contrition and healing” amid racial tension while honoring Black culture and history.
Find out more
Go to www.arlingtondiocese.org/encounters. To learn more about Black Catholics and their history, explore the links at the bottom of the Encounter Black Catholic History page.
