As a fourth-generation African American Alexandria, Virginia resident and a member of the city council since November 2012, John Taylor Chapman is all about his hometown. In addition to his work as a city councilman, Chapman serves as an officer or active member of city organizations such as the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership Board of Directors, vice president of the Volunteer Alexandria Board of Directors and a former president of the Alexandria NAACP.
While he has a deep love for Alexandria, it bothered him immensely when he discovered that the tour companies operating in the city hardly mentioned the rich Black history there.
“Nobody was talking about the city’s Black history,” said Chapman, 43. “Tourists who would go to Old Town Alexandria would be shown historical sites related to events and people but they weren’t African American.”
Chapman said the historical associations might mention Black contributions to tourists but rarely go into detail about the events or the free and enslaved people who lived in Alexandria.
Plus, there was a controversy about the closing of a group of dwellings, Ramsey Homes, designed during segregation. He decided to do something about the dearth of information about Black history in the city and formed the Manumission Tour Company in 2016.
Alexandria has received positive publicity as a tourist attraction. Travel + Leisure magazine voted Alexandria as one of its best cities in the U.S. this year and in 2023, Conde Nast Traveler listed the city as one of the top three best small cities in the country.
Just five miles south of the nation’s capital, commuters travel from the District to Alexandria by crossing the Potomac River. Old Town Alexandria is a world-class destination, with King Street acting as an anchor, and featuring more than 200 independent restaurants and boutiques and historical museums.
Historic African American Presence Inspires Manumission Tour Company
According to the 2020 Census, Alexandria is 19.64% Black.
Before the Civil War, Alexandria had one of the largest slave trading operations in the country.
However, there were a number of free African Americans who lived in the city even when it was a part of the District from 1801-1847. In 1847, Alexandria retroceded back to Virginia. Chapman said even today there are historic buildings that have markers of “Alexandria, D.C.”
Inspired by Alexandria’s little known history, the Manumission Tour Company founder said the company was named after a process of freeing slaves.
“The word Manumission literally means to be freed by a piece of paper,” he said. “We selected that name because it opens up a conversation about what we do. It gives us the chance to talk about the struggle for freedom in Alexandria, which had one of the biggest slave ports in the U.S.”
Manumission offers customers a variety of tours to take part in.
- Freedom’s Fight in Alexandria is a 90-minute guided walking tour through the streets of Old Town that is designed to give participants insight into Alexandria’s pre-Civil War history of urban slavery. Resisters to slavery such as Moses Hepburn and pharmacist Edward Stabler are among the people highlighted during the tour.
- Duke Street Black History Walking Tour, a 90-minute excursion along the Duke Street corridor in Old Town Alexandria, visits sites such as the headquarters of the Franklin & Armfield Slave Pen, a major slaveholding company at the 1315 address, and the former Bruin’s Slave Jail site that held the Edmondson sisters.
- Still’s Underground Railroad Walking Tour along the King Street corridor is based on the 1872 non-fiction book “The Underground Railroad” by abolitionist William Still. The tour visits those sites and discusses the journey of the fugitives and the operation of the Underground Railroad in Alexandria.
- Black History in Alexandria Bus Tour is a two-hour trek visiting local African American sites such as Freedom House Museum and Alfred Street Baptist Church (where Chapman attends).
Chapman presently employs three tour guides. He plans on expanding the company to include other African American historical sites in Northern Virginia.
Morgan Twamley, a resident of nearby Arlington, took one of the tours recently and liked the experience.
“I would definitely recommend this tour company,” Twamley said. “The Underground Railroad Tour was incredibly interesting, and the tour guide was very knowledgeable. He answered everyone’s questions, and we learned a lot. We will definitely be back to try the other tours.”