Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery in Alexandria, Virginia, was established in February 1864 after the Union occupation drew thousands of formerly enslaved refugees into the city and disease killed many living in crowded, unhealthy conditions. General John P. Slough seized land for a burial ground, and records kept by the Superintendent of Contrabands and later the Freedmen’s Bureau document 1,711 burials from 1864 to 1869, more than half of them children under five. Closed in late 1868 and long forgotten beneath later development, the site was rediscovered through archaeology and local advocacy, then restored as a memorial park honoring the dead and the harsh realities of emancipation in wartime.

Photo: Wikipedia

Photo: Wikipedia

Alexandria, Virginia · USA