Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Looking Back to Move Forward: Urban Renewal, Salvage Archaeology, and Historical Reckoning in Alexandria, Virginia

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Historical Archaeology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Dissent over what merits preservation and constitutes progress undergirds Alexandria Archaeology’s establishment. This program is rooted in mid-20th-century urban renewal. In demolishing several blocks and removing people of color and poor whites from the city’s downtown, officials hoped to reinvent this area as a haven for white, middle-class residents and tourists drawn to Alexandria by its historic character. During demolition, a group of concerned citizens noted that bulldozers were removing archaeological resources as well as “blight” in the name of progress. They established an archaeology program dedicated to mitigating these effects. These early archaeological projects privileged some histories, however, focusing on 18th-century, elite, white history instead of on the diverse 19th-century community that had once existed on the blocks. These archaeological collections provide insight into the dissonance of historical interpretation. This article explores how new analyses of older collections give voice to some of these lesser-known histories

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. <https://www.alexandriava.gov/Archaeology>.

References

  • Adler, Cyrus (editor) 1903 The American Jewish Year Book 5664. Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia, PA.

    Google Scholar 

  • African American Heritage Trail 2020 African American Heritage Trail: North Waterfront Route from the Foot of King Street. African American Heritage Trail, City of Alexandria, VA GIS <https://alexgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=47a6a8e8942643f0ae499140f55c598f>. Accessed 18 March 2024.

  • Alexandria City Council 1954 Minutes, Regular Meeting, 8 June. Manuscript, Office of Historic Alexandria, Archives and Records Center, Alexandria, VA.

  • Alexandria Gazette 1854 H. Schwarz: Advertisement. Alexandria Gazette, 11 October, 55(241):3. Alexandria, VA. Alexandria gazette. [volume], October 11, 1854, Image 3, Chronicling America, Library: Library of Congress <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85025007/1854-10-11/ed-1/seq-3/>. Accessed 18 March 2024.

  • Alexandria Gazette 1903 Rosenfeld’s: Advertisement. Alexandria Gazette, 6 October, 104(228):3. Alexandria, VA. Alexandria gazette. [volume], October 06, 1903, Image 3, Chronicling America, Library: Library of Congress <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85025007/1903-10-06/ed-1/seq-3/>. Accessed 18 March 2024.

  • Alexandria 2021 Explore Alexandria’s Black History and Culture. Alexandria <https://www.visitalexandriava.com/things-to-do/historic-attractions-and-museums/african-american/>. Accessed 21 March 2024.

  • Allen, Theodore W. 1994 The Invention of the White Race, Volume 1: Racial Oppression and Social Control. Verso, New York, NY.

  • Anderson, Martin 1967 The Federal Bulldozer. McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, Wayne F. 1971 Letter to Mayor and Members of City Council, 19 January. Manuscript, Alexandria Archaeology, Alexandria, VA.

  • Appler, Douglas R. 2015 The Formation of the Alexandria Archaeological Commission: Connecting Citizen Activism, Archaeology, and Local Government in Alexandria Archaeology. Journal of Community Archaeology 2(1):22–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Appler, Douglas R. 2017 Changing the Scale of Analysis for Urban Renewal Research: Small Cities, the State of Kentucky, and the 1974 Urban Renewal Directory. Journal of Planning History 16(3):200–221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Babiarz, Jennifer J. 2011 White Privilege and Silencing within the Heritage Landscape: Race and the Practice of Cultural Resource Management. In The Materiality of Freedom—Archaeologies of Post-Emancipation Life, Jodi A. Barnes, editor, pp. 47–57. University of South Carolina Press, Columbia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker, Ruth Sinberg 1990 Southern Drawls and Foreign Accents: Alexandria’s Jews in the Early 20th Century. Record 17:20–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barber, Edwin Atlee 1904 Marks of American Potters. Patterson & White Company, Philadelphia, PA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beth El Hebrew Congregation 2009 Reflection and Renewal: Beth El Hebrew Congregation Alexandria, Virginia, Founded in 1859. Beth El Hebrew Congregation, Alexandria, VA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blessett, Brandi 2020 Urban Renewal and “Ghetto” Development in Baltimore: Two Sides of the Same Coin. American Review of Public Administration 50(8):838–850.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bly, Daniel W. 2016 Here to Stay: The Founding of a Jewish Community in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, 1840–1900. Otter Bay, Baltimore, MD.

  • Brodkin, Karen 1998 How Jews Became White Folks and What that Says about Race in America. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chataigne, J. Henry (compiler) 1881 Chataigne’s Alexandria City Directory, 1881–’82. J. H. Chataigne, Alexandria, VA. Ancestry <https://www.ancestry.com>. Accessed 5 March 2021.

  • Chataigne, J. Henry (compiler) 1887 Chataigne’s Alexandria City Directory, 1887–’88. J. H. Chataigne, Alexandria, VA. Ancestry <https://www.ancestry.com>. Accessed 5 March 2021.

  • Chronopoulos, Themis 2014 Robert Moses and the Visual Dimension of Physical Disorder: Efforts to Demonstrate Urban Blight in the Age of Slum Clearance. Journal of Planning History 13(3):207–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • City of Alexandria 1960 City of Alexandria, Virginia: Home Town of George Washington and Robert E. Lee. City of Alexandria, Alexandria, VA. City of Alexandria Virginia <https://media.alexandriava.gov/docs-archives/historic/info/history/cityofalexandriavirginia1960.pdf?_gl=1*1xtz94d*_ga*NDE3MDQ2ODA4LjE2OTY0NDQ1MzM.*_ga_249CRKJTTH*MTcxMjA3MTUwOC4xMDAuMS4xNzEyMDcxNTQ1LjAuMC4w>. Accessed 8 April 2024.

  • City of Alexandria 1966 Neighborhood Analysis: Alexandria, Virginia. City of Alexandria, Alexandria, VA.

  • City of Alexandria 1992 Zoning Ordinance of the City of Alexandria, Virginia. City of Alexandria, Alexandria, VA. Article X. - Historic Districts and Buildings, Zoning, Alexandria, VA, municode <https://library.municode.com/va/alexandria/codes/zoning?nodeId=ARTXHIDIBU>. Accessed 28 March 2024.

  • City of Alexandria Virginia 2023 History of Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, 24 January. City of Alexandria Virginia <https://www.alexandriava.gov/museums/history-of-gadsbys-tavern-museum>. Accessed 18 March 2024.

  • Cord, Steven 1974 Urban Renewal: Boon or Boondoggle. American Journal of Economics and Sociology 33(2):184–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cressey, Pamela J. 1979a The Alexandria Urban Archaeology Project: An Integrative Model for Systematic Study, Conservation, and Crisis. Paper presented at the 12th Annual Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology, Nashville, TN.

  • Cressey, Pamela J. 1979b Studying the American City: the Alexandria Urban Archaeology Project. Paper presented at the 12th annual meeting of the Canadian Archaeological Association, Vancouver, BC.

  • Cressey, Pamela J. 1980 An Enduring Afro-American Neighborhood: An Archaeological Perspective from Alexandria, Virginia. Black Heritage 20(1):1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cressey, Pamela J. 1985a The Alexandria, Virginia City-Site: Archaeology in an Afro-American Neighborhood, 1930–1910. Doctoral dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Iowa, Iowa City. University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, MI.

  • Cressey, Pamela J. 1985b The Archaeology of Free Blacks in Alexandria, Virginia. Alexandria Archaeology Publications, No. 19. Alexandria, VA.

  • Crowl, Heather 2002 A History of Roads in Fairfax County, Virginia: 1608–1840. Master’s thesis, Department of Anthropology, American University, Washington, DC.

  • Diner, Hasia 2000 Lower East Side Memories: A Jewish Place in America. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Dorr, Gregory Michael 2000 Segregation’s Science: The American Eugenics Movement and Virginia, 1900–1980. Doctoral dissertation, Department of History, University of Virginia, Charlottesville. University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, MI.

  • Edwards, Paul 1970 Archaeology Project nears End. Washington Post December 31:D10–11.

  • Epperson, Terrence W. 1990 “To Fix a Perpetual Brand”: The Social Construction of Race in Virginia, 1675–1750. Doctoral dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, MI.

  • Epperson, Terrence W. 1997 Whiteness in Early Virginia. Race Traitor 7:9–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evening Star 1901 Angelo Myers: Advertisement. Evening Star, 9 April, (15,012):16. Washington, DC. Evening star. [volume], April 09, 1901, Page 16, Image 16, Chronicling America, Library: Library of Congress <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1901-04-09/ed-1/seq-16/>. Accessed 20 March 2024.

  • Fenwick, Patricia Miles 1969 Urban Restoration in Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia. Master’s thesis, Kent State University, Kent, OH.

  • Ferguson, Karen J. 2002 Black Politics in New Deal Atlanta. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Fincham, Jack E. 2013 Did a Medicine Bottle Change History? Duffy’s Malt Whiskey. Bottles and Extras 24(3):50–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster, Robin 2013 Battle of the Port: Memory, Preservation, and Planning in the Creation of the South Street Seaport Museum. Journal of Urban History 39(5):890–908.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox, Richard G. 1977 Urban Anthropology: Cities in their Cultural Settings. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fullilove, Mindy Thompson 2005 Root Shock: How Tearing up City Neighborhoods Hurts America and What We Can Do about It. Random House, New York, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, Eric 2006 The Price of Whiteness: Jews, Race, and American Identity. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, Eric, and Deborah R. Weiner 2018 On Middle Ground: A History of the Jews of Baltimore. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Gopsill, James 1886 Gopsill's Philadelphia City Directory for 1886. James Gopsill's Sons, Philadelphia, PA. Ancestry <https://www.ancestry.com>. Accessed 5 March 2021.

  • Gotham, Kevin Fox 2001 A City without Slums: Urban Renewal, Public Housing, and Downtown Revitalization in Kansas City, Missouri. American Journal of Economics and Sociology 60(1):285–316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray, D. Ryan 2020 Uprooted: Race, Public Housing, and the Archaeology of Four Lost New Orleans Neighborhoods. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greer, Scott 1965 Urban Renewal and American Cities: The Dilemma of Democratic Intervention. Bobbs-Merrill, New York, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greiff, Constance 1987 Independence: The Creation of a National Park. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harper, Ellen R. 1939 Real Property Survey and Low-Income Housing Area Survey, Alexandria, Virginia, Vol. 1. Works Progress Administration, Alexandria, VA.

  • Hartigan, John, Jr. 1997 Establishing the Fact of Whiteness. American Anthropologist 99(3):495–505.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayden, Dolores 2004 Building Suburbia: Green Fields and Urban Growth, 1820–1900. Vintage, New York, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayman, Ben, and Jimmy Hayman 2001 Interview by Anne Horowitz, 24 February. Transcript, Alexandria Legacies Project, Oral History Program, Alexandria Archaeology, Alexandria, VA.

  • Highsmith, Andrew R. 2015 Demolition Means Progress: Flint, Michigan and the Fate of the American Metropolis. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hirsch, Arnold R. 1998 Making the Second Ghetto: Race and Housing in Chicago, 1940–1960. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hirsch, Arnold R. 2000 Searching for a “Sound Negro Policy”: A Racial Agenda for the Housing Acts of 1949 and 1954. Housing Policy Debate 11(2):393–441.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunter, Marcus Anthony, Kevin Loughran, and Gary Alan Fine 2018 Memory Politics: Growth Coalitions, Urban Pasts, and the Creation of “Historic” Philadelphia. City and Community 17(2):330–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hurley, Andrew 2010 Beyond Preservation: Using Public History to Revitalize Inner Cities. Temple University Press, Philadelphia, PA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyra, Derek 2012 Conceptualizing the New Urban Renewal: Comparing the Past to the Present. Urban Affairs Review 48(4):498–527.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ignatiev, Noel 1995 How the Irish Became White. Routledge, New York, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Irwin, Purvi Ghandi 2021 Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in Historic Preservation. Paper presented to the Historic Alexandria Resources Committee, Alexandria, VA.

  • Jackson, Kenneth T. 1985 Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States. Oxford University Press, New York, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, Jane 1961 The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Vintage, New York, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobsen, Matthew Frye 1998 Whiteness of a Different Color: European Immigrants and the Alchemy of Race. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaffee, Bruce L. 1977 What Happened to Urban Renewal? Business Horizons 20(1):81–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lehner, Lois 1988 Lehner’s Encyclopedia of U.S. Marks on Pottery, Porcelain and Clay. Collector, Paducah, KY.

  • Magid, Barbara 2003 The Archaeology of Alexandria’s Taverns. Manuscript, Alexandria Archaeology, Alexandria, VA.

  • Massey, Douglass S., and Nancy A. Denton 1993 American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matthews, Christopher 2020 A People’s Preservation: Urban Erasures in Essex County, NJ. Journal for the Anthropology of North America 23(1):47–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGrew, Teron 2018 The History of Residential Segregation in the United States, Title VIII, and the Homeownership Remedy. American Journal of Economics and Sociology 77(3&4):1013–1048.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLaughlin, Maurine 1966 Alexandria’s Urban Renewal Opposed: Phase III in Trouble Legal Action Election Issue other Projects, 10 July. Washington Post, ProQuest <https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/alexandria-s-urban-renewal-opposed/docview/142818708/se-2?accountid=14553>. Accessed 2 May 2022.

  • Milne, Claudia, and Pamela Crabtree 2000 Revealing Meals: Ethnicity, Economic Status, and Diet at Five Points: 1800–1860. In Tales of the Five Points: Working-Class Life in Nineteenth-Century New York, Vol. 2, Rebecca Yamin, editor. John Milner Associates, West Chester, PA.

  • Milne, Claudia, and Pamela Crabtree 2001 Prostitutes, a Rabbi, and a Carpenter––Dinner at the Five Points in the 1830s. Historical Archaeology 35(3):31–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mohl, Raymond A. 2000 Whitening Miami: Race, Housing, and Government Policy in Twentieth-Century Dade County. Florida Historical Quarterly 79(3):319–345.

    Google Scholar 

  • Montague, Robert III 2006 Interview by Alan Palm, 6 October, Jo-Ann LaFon, transcriber. Transcript, Alexandria Legacies Project, Oral History Program, Alexandria Archaeology, VA.

  • Moon, Krystyn 2016a The African American Housing Crisis in Alexandria, Virginia, 1930s–1960s. Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 124(1):28–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moon, Krystyn 2016b The Alexandria YWCA, Race, and Urban (and Ethnic) Revival: The Scottish Christmas Walk, 1960s–1970s. Journal of American Ethnic History 35(4):59–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, Mechlin 1957 Alexandria Weighs Code as Step in Urban Renewal, 25 November. Washington Post and Times Herald, ProQuest <https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/alexandria-weighs-code-as-step-urban-renewal/docview/148880698/se-2?accountid=14553>. Accessed 2 May 2022.

  • New Jersey Department of State 1895 State Census of New Jersey, Mercer County, Trenton, First Ward, S.D. 8, E.D. 101-07. New Jersey State Archives, Trenton. Ancestry <https://www.ancestry.com>. Accessed 15 September 2021.

  • Niculescu, Tatiana 2022 “Matters Have Improved beyond Description”: Archaeology of Alexandria, Virginia’s German Jewish Community. Doctoral dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana. University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, MI.

  • Noël Hume, Ivor 1969 Address to the 154th Annual Meeting of the Athenæum of Philadelphia, 3 February. Manuscript, Alexandria Archaeology, Alexandria, VA.

  • Office of Historic Alexandria 2015 Immigrant Alexandria: Past, Present and Future. City of Alexandria Virginia <https://www.alexandriava.gov/historic/info/default.aspx?id=86067>. Accessed 21 March 2024.

  • Office of Historic Alexandria, Archives and Records Center 1931 Application for Permit for Repairs, Alterations, etc. for 518 King Street, 3 June. Manuscript, Permit No. 240, Office of Historic Alexandria, Archives and Records Center, Alexandria, VA.

  • Office of Historic Alexandria, Archives and Records Center 1933 Application for Permit for Repairs, Alterations, etc. for 518 King Street, 24 April. Manuscript, Permit No. 529, Office of Historic Alexandria, Archives and Records Center, Alexandria, VA.

  • Office of Historic Alexandria, Archives and Records Center 1938 Application for Permit for Repairs, Alterations, etc. for 518 King Street, 1 November. Manuscript, Permit No. 2817, Office of Historic Alexandria, Archives and Records Center, Alexandria, VA.

  • Office of Historic Alexandria, Archives and Records Center 1948 Application for Permit for Repairs, Alterations, etc. for 518 King Street, 20 July. Manuscript, Permit No. 8342, Office of Historic Alexandria, Archives and Records Center, Alexandria, VA.

  • Office of Historic Alexandria, Archives and Records Center 1955 Application for Permit for Repairs, Alterations, etc. for 518 King Street, 26 September. Manuscript, Permit No. 12318, Office of Historic Alexandria, Archives and Records Center, Alexandria, VA.

  • Page, Max, and Randall Mason (editors) 2004 Giving Preservation a History: Histories of Historic Preservation in the United States. Routledge, New York, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pascoe, Peggy 2009 What Comes Naturally: Miscegenation Law and the Making of Race in America. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Patterson, Lillian 2021 Interview by Krystyn Moon, 18 May, Part One, Colleen Mason, transcriber. Transcript, Alexandria Legacies Project, Oral History Program, Alexandria Archaeology, VA. Patterson, Lillian, Index of Oral History Transcriptions, The Online Oral History Archive, City of Alexandria Virginia <https://www.alexandriava.gov/sites/default/files/2024-03/oral-history-patterson-lillian-2021-part1.pdf>. Accessed 8 April 2024.

  • Pickens, John K. 1974 Letter to City Council and Mayor, 30 April. Manuscript, Alexandria Archaeology, Alexandria, VA.

  • Pickens, John K. 1976 Alexandria Archaeology Commission Memo to City Manager, 9 September. Manuscript, Alexandria Archaeology, Alexandria, VA.

  • Poole, Lauren A. R., and Douglas R. Appler 2020 Building a Local Preservation Ethic in the Era of Urban Renewal: How Did Neighborhood Associations Shape Historic Preservation Practice in Lexington, Kentucky? Journal of Urban History 46(2):383–405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Praetzellis, Adrian 2021 Archaeology of San Francisco Jews: Themes for the Study of Jewish Domestic Life. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 25(4):1024–1064.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rast, Joel 2009 Regime Building, Institution Building: Urban Renewal Policy in Chicago, 1946–1962. Journal of Urban Affairs 31(2):173–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robbins, William 1968 Alexandria Renews Its Ties to the Past, 8 September. New York Times, ProQuest <https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/alexandria-renews-ties-past/docview/118165265/se-2?accountid=14553>. Accessed 2 May 2022.

  • Roberts, Peter 2017 The Evolution, Definition, and Purpose of Urban Regeneration. In Urban Regeneration, Peter Roberts, Hugh Sykes, and Rachel Granger, editors, pp. 9–36. Sage, Los Angeles, CA.

  • Roedinger, David R. 2002 Colored White: Transcending the Racial Past. University of California Press, Berkeley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roedinger, David R. 2018 Working towards Whiteness: How America’s Immigrants Became White. Basic, New York, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothstein, Richard 2017 The Color of the Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. Liveright, New York, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryberg, Stephanie R. 2012 Historic Preservation’s Urban Renewal Roots: Preservation and Planning in Midcentury Philadelphia. Journal of Urban History 39(2):193–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryzewski, Krysta 2021 Detroit Remains: Archaeology and Community Histories of Six Legendary Places. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shenandoah Herald 1891a Boston Racket Store: Advertisement. Shenandoah Herald, 30 January, 70(50):3. Woodstock, VA. Shenandoah herald. [volume], January 30, 1891, Image 3, Chronicling America, Library: Library of Congress <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85026941/1891-01-30/ed-1/seq-3/>. Accessed 21 March 2024.

  • Shenandoah Herald 1891b Boston Racket Store: Advertisement. Shenandoah Herald, 3 April, 71(7):3. Woodstock, VA. Shenandoah herald. [volume], April 03, 1891, Image 3, Chronicling America, Library: Library of Congress <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85026941/1891-04-03/ed-1/seq-3/>. Accessed 21 March 2024.

  • Shenandoah Herald 1891c Boston Racket Store: Advertisement. Shenandoah Herald, 29 May, 71(15):3. Woodstock, VA. Shenandoah herald. [volume], May 29, 1891, Image 3, Chronicling America, Library: Library of Congress <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85026941/1891-05-29/ed-1/seq-3/>. Accessed 21 March 2024.

  • Shenandoah Herald 1891d Boston Racket Store: Advertisement. Shenandoah Herald, 30 October, 71(37):3. Woodstock, VA. Shenandoah herald. [volume], October 30, 1891, Image 3, Chronicling America, Library: Library of Congress <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85026941/1891-10-30/ed-1/seq-3/>. Accessed 21 March 2024.

  • Shenandoah Herald 1892 No title. Shenandoah Herald, 4 March, 72(2):3. Woodstock, VA. Shenandoah herald. [volume], March 04, 1892, Image 3, Chronicling America, Library: Library of Congress <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85026941/1892-03-04/ed-1/seq-3/>. Accessed 21 March 2024.

  • Shenandoah Herald 1893a Boston Racket Store: Advertisement. Shenandoah Herald, 17 March, 73(3):3. Woodstock, VA. Shenandoah herald. [volume], March 17, 1893, Image 1, Chronicling America, Library: Library of Congress <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85026941/1893-03-17/ed-1/seq-3/>. Accessed 21 March 2024.

  • Shenandoah Herald 1893b Personal. Shenandoah Herald, 1 December, 73(40):3. Woodstock, VA. Shenandoah herald. [volume], December 01, 1893, Image 3, Chronicling America, Library: Library of Congress <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85026941/1893-12-01/ed-1/seq-3/>. Accessed 21 March 2024.

  • Shephard, Steven J. 1984 An Archaeological Study of Socioeconomic Stratification: Status Change in Nineteenth Century Alexandria, Virginia. Doctoral dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, MI.

  • Silver, Louis (editor) 1984 Beth El Hebrew Congregation: 1859–1984. Beth El Hebrew Congregation, Alexandria, VA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, Andrea, and Rachel Scarpato 2010 The Language of “Blight” and Easton's “Lebanese Town”: Understanding a Neighborhood's Loss to Urban Renewal. Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 134(2):127–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, Peter H. 1996 The Beginnings of Historic Preservation in Alexandria––Moving toward the Creation of the Old and Historic District. Alexandria Chronicle 4:1–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sprinkle, John 2003 Uncertain Destiny: The Changing Role of Archaeology in Historic Preservation. In A Richer Heritage: Historic Preservation in the Twenty First Century, Robert E. Stipe, editor, pp. 253–278. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill.

  • Stewart-Abernathy, Leslie C., and Barbara L. Ruff 1989 A Good Man in Israel: Zooarchaeology and Assimilation in Antebellum Washington, Arkansas. Historical Archaeology 23(2):96–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sugrue, Thomas J. 1996 The Origins of the Urban Crisis. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, Patricia 2013 Sale of Robinson Terminal Warehouses to Bring Development to Alexandria Waterfront, 25 September. The Washington Post <https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/sale-of-robinson-terminal-warehouses-to-bring-development-to-alexandria-waterfront/2013/09/24/ea7769d0-2473-11e3-b75d-5b7f66349852_story.html>. Accessed 21 March 2024.

  • Taylor, Walter 1970 Smithsonian to Quit Alexandria Archaeological Site. Evening Star 29 December:B1. Washington, DC.

  • Teaford, Jon C. 1990 The Rough Road to Renaissance: Urban Revitalization in America, 1940–1985. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD.

  • Teale, Chris 2015 City Council Rejects Robinson Terminal South Appeals, 17 December. Alexandria Times <https://alextimes.com/2015/12/city-council-rejects-robinson-terminal-south-appeals/>. Accessed 21 March 2024.

  • Terrell, Michelle 2005 The Jewish Community of Early Colonial Nevis. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.

    Google Scholar 

  • Terrie, Philip 1979 Alexandria’s Main Street Residents: The Social History of the 500 Block of King Street, Marilyn Bienduga and Amanda Iacobelli, editors. Alexandria Archaeology Publications, No. 59. Alexandria, VA. City of Alexandria Virginia <https://www.alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/historic/info/archaeology/500BlockKingSocialHistory.pdf>. Accessed 21 March 2024.

  • The Connection 2015 Alexandria: Battle of Robinson Terminal South Ends, 22 April. The Connection <http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2015/apr/22/alexandria-battle-robinson-terminal-south-ends/>. Accessed 18 March 2024.

  • Three Rivers, Amoja 1991 Cultural Etiquette: A Guide for the Well-Intentioned. Market Wimmin, Indian Valley, VA.

  • Turner, Margaret Austin, Susan J. Popkin, and Lynette A. Rawlings 2009 Public Housing and the Legacy of Segregation. Urban Institute Press, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Bureau of the Census 1940 Sixteenth Census of the United States, Alexandria City, Ward 2, S.D. 8, E.D. 101-07. U.S. Bureau of the Census, Washington, DC. Ancestry <https://www.ancestry.com>. Accessed 15 September 2021.

  • U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 1968 Urban Renewal Directory: June 30, 1968. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, DC.

  • United States Conference of Mayors 1966 With Heritage So Rich: A Report. Random House, New York, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • University of Mary Washington 2014 Immigrant Alexandria: A UMW History Project <https://immigrantalexandria.org/>. Accessed 21 March 2024.

  • Van Landingham, Marian 2010 Digging the 500 Block of King Street. John G. Motheral and Ted Pulliam, editors. Manuscript, Alexandria Archaeology, Alexandria, VA

  • Virginia Bureau of Vital Statistics 1926 Max Rosenfeld, 29 May. Certificate of Death 11367, Virginia Bureau of Vital Statistics, State Board of Health, Commonwealth of Virginia, Richmond. Virginia, U.S., Death Records, 1912–2014 for Max Rosenfeld, Ancestry <https://www.ancestry.com>. Accessed 28 March 2024.

  • Virginia Bureau of Vital Statistics 1929 Norman E. Rosenfeld, 22 January. Certificate of Death 265, Virginia Bureau of Vital Statistics, State Board of Health, Commonwealth of Virginia, Richmond. Virginia, U.S., Death Records, 1912-2014 for Norman E Rosenfeld, Ancestry, <https://www.ancestry.com>.  Accessed 28 March 2024.

  • Vitiello, Domenic, and Zoe Blickenderfer 2020 The Planned Destruction of Chinatowns in the United States and Canada since c.1900. Planning Perspectives 35(1):143–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Washington Post 1962 Redeveloping History. Washington Post 31 January:A16. Washington Post, ProQuest <https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/redeveloping-history/docview/141777269/se-2?accountid=14553>. Accessed 25 September 2021.

  • Washington Post 1968 Alexandria to Begin Negro Area Renewal. Washington Post 16 May:B4. Washington Post, ProQuest <https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/alexandria-begin-negro-area-renewal/docview/143431816/se-2?accountid=14553>. Accessed 2 May 2022.

  • Weissbach, Lee Shai 2005 Jewish Life in Small Town America. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zipp, Samuel 2010 Manhattan Projects: The Rise and Fall of Urban Renewal in Cold War New York. Oxford University Press, New York, NY.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alexandria Archaeology, 105 N. Union Street, Studio 327, Alexandria, VA, 22314, U.S.A.

    Tatiana Niculescu

Authors
  1. Tatiana Niculescu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tatiana Niculescu.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Niculescu, T. Looking Back to Move Forward: Urban Renewal, Salvage Archaeology, and Historical Reckoning in Alexandria, Virginia. Hist Arch (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41636-024-00498-4

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41636-024-00498-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation