Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery Memorial

A large outdoor bronze sculpture of soldiers in action stands next to a stone memorial structure on a grassy area, with a red tiled walkway leading to both. Trees and buildings are visible in the background under a cloudy sky.

A bronze sculpture stands between two stone pillars topped with metal braid-like decorations, set on a paved area with trees and buildings in the background.

A woman wearing sunglasses and a light shirt touches a bronze plaque featuring raised figures and inscriptions outdoors, with trees and a grassy area in the background.

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Between 1864 and 1869, the Contrabands and Freedmen’s Cemetery served as the burial place for about 1,800 African Americans who fled to Union-occupied Alexandria to escape from bondage.

Visitors can experience a memorial park that commemorates the free African-American men, women and children interred on its grounds after escaping slavery.

The Memorial features artist Mario Chiodo’s sculpture “The Path of Thorns and Roses,” an allegorical depiction of the struggle for freedom; the Memorial’s bas-reliefs depicting the flight to freedom were done by local sculptor Joanna Blake.