African-Americans at Arlington National Cemetery - Part I

Section 27 by M.V. Jantzen

As I'm sure most of you know, February is Black History Month, a tradition started by DC's own Carter G. Woodson. Now, since Dr. Woodson established what was then known as Negro History Week in 1926, there has been discussion and debate as to whether the observance creates ade facto segregation of our view of history. Imagine for a moment visiting Mt. Vernon and being told, "In February, we discuss the lives of the slaves and free blacks on the plantation, and for the other eleven months we discuss the history of George Washington." Silly, and of course not at all how the folks at Mt. Vernon handle the topic. But it can be instructive to take some time to focus on a segment of our past that was often overlooked, and in that vein, we'll take a little time to examine a standard part of the DC tour in a new light.

There are many attractions in the DC area where it's possible to focus in greater depth on the African-American experience (and we hope that Dr. Woodson's house will soon be one of those). But for today I'd like to focus on a site which most people consider a must-see in your trip to Washington, but is not normally thought of in the context of African-American history: Arlington National Cemetery.

African Americans at Arlington of course long predates it's development as a National Cemetery. As a working plantation, Arlington used slaves to work the fields, perform manual tasks, and even to build the house that you see today. George Washington's adopted son George Washington ParkeCustis family brought slaves over from Mt. Vernon in 1802 when he built the farm. The Custis family at times owned hundreds of slave on their various farms, but unlike normal practice, gave them a basic education and even ordered all of his slaves to be freed upon the death of George Washington Parke Custis.. However, the will's executor, his son-in-law Robert E. Lee, read the document to mean freeing the slaves five years from his death, and used their labor to work the plantation until then, even going so far as to as to have three runaways chased down and possibly whipped. Eventually, the last slaves at Arlington on December 29, 1862 were formally freed, two months and nineteen days after the five year mark of Custis's death.

Some remnants of slave life on the plantation remain for visitors to witness. Behind Arlington House lies slave quarters, or at least those of the more favored house servants. Most notable among them was Selena Grey, the personal maid to Mary Custis Lee, the wife of Robert E. Lee. Mary Lee was quite infirm, and close proximity to the house was required so that Selena could tend to her. It would be Selena's children who would provide critical details in the 1929-30 restoration of Arlington House that ensure the site we see today resembles the original.

While Selena and her husband would leave Arlington after the war, one man bridged the gap between Southern plantation and military cemetery. Another of the 63 slaves owned by the Custis-Lee family, James Parks, was, we think, about 18 years old when the Lees abandoned Arlington to head south. He remained at the site when it was occupied by Union soldiers and after the war became a grave digger and maintenance man around the Cemetery, a position he held until 1925. Upon his death in 1929, the Secretary of War, Henry Stimson, gave special permission for Mr. Parks to be buried in Section 15, near the gate to Ft. Myer and, ironically, just across the road from the Confederate Memorial. Interestingly enough, while his owners, the Custis's, are both buried at a family plot in the Cemetery, neither was born here; making James Parks the only person to be both born and buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Obviously, once the Civil War started, the situation at Arlington rapidly changed. By the time Lee formally freed his slaves, events had overtaken him and the farm was occupied by Union troops. As Washington became an armed camp, "contrabands", or slaves freed by Union troops fled to the city. Additionally, the slaves of Washington, DC were freed by the Compensated Emancipation Act on April 16, 1862, the nations only attempt to pay people to free slaves. To deal with this the Federal government set up several camps in the area, and used the grounds of the Lee plantation to build a model village, known as Freedman's Village. The Village was administered by the Freedman's Bureau until 1883 and no trace of it remains today. It is believed to have stood on what is now Eisenhower Drive, in sections 8/47/25. There are tentative plans to build a Black Heritage Museum of Arlington on property just outside of Arlington National Cemetery, which would help tell the story of Freedman's Village.

Up to 1,100 people lived on the site, and it grew to include log homes, churches, schools, and even a 50 bed hospital. While somewhat rustic and initially under somewhat strict military discipline, the inhabitants at Freedman's Village did fare better than their counterparts in camps within DC. However, in the thirty years free blacks lived at the site, some 3,800 died and were buried in Section 27, just along the edge of the Cemetery near the Iwo Jima Memorial. Their graves are marked as "citizen" or "civilian", and it is the largest section of non-military graves in Arlington. They are still visible today, although a bit off the normal tour.

We'll call it a day for now, but join us tomorrow when we explore more about the African-American legacy of Arlington National Cemetery.