Events
WalkArlington, in partnership with the Black Heritage Museum of Arlington and Columbia Pike Partnership, presents a Juneteenth Black Heritage Walk.
Discover Black heritage in Arlington on a walk to honor Juneteenth led by Craig Syphax, a board member and former president of the Black Heritage Museum of Arlington.
This two-hour guided walk will take place near Columbia Pike with stops at St. John’s Baptist Church, Freedman’s Village Bridge, and more. Along the route, Craig will discuss the story of some of these significant sites, in addition to his family’s deep-rooted history in and around Arlington. The walk will end at the Black Heritage Museum of Arlington, where participants can feel free to explore and enjoy.
Join The Black Heritage Museum of Arlington, The Arlington Historical Society, and WalkArlington as we learn about the lives of free and enslaved Blacks in 19th-century Arlington.
In this afternoon walk near Columbia Pike, Craig Syphax, board member and former president of The Black Heritage Museum of Arlington, and Jessica Kaplan, board member of the Arlington Historical Society, will share the stories of free and enslaved Blacks who were part of this neighborhood in the 19th century. As we pass by places where they once lived and worked, we’ll learn about their lives, their struggles, and their great resilience, courage, and strength in the face of adversity.
In November, several sites on the Routes of Resilience Walk will be dedicated with bronze markers emblazoned with the names of the people we will learn about. The markers will be placed as part of the Memorializing the Enslaved project in Arlington, an effort to commemorate the lives of the County’s enslaved population. The first markers in this project were dedicated at the oldest house in Arlington, the Ball-Sellers House, in fall 2023.
After the walk, we’ll head down The Pike to The Black Heritage Museum of Arlington for a reception and an opportunity to view the museum’s exhibits.