04/08/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/08/2026 09:12
Join the City of Alexandria's Office of Housing, Office of Human Rights, and Office of Historic Alexandria for a special event, "Built Here: The History of Black Property Ownership and the Pursuit of Fair Housing in Alexandria," as we commemorate Fair Housing Month.
This presentation explores the long history of Black property ownership in Alexandria and the ways in which residents navigated segregationist practices in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Dr. Moon is a professor of History and American Studies at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Her scholarly work encompasses race and ethnicity, immigration, popular culture, the American West, foodways, and Virginia history. Through her ongoing collaboration with the Office of Historic Alexandria, she authored "Finding the Fort: A History of an African American Neighborhood in Northern Virginia, 1860s-1960s," supporting the integration of African American history into Alexandria's public programming.
Dr. Moon's most recent book, Proximity to Power, traces the history of Alexandria's African American community from the mid-nineteenth through the twenty-first century, exploring its evolving relationship with the federal government, before, during, and after the Civil War era. Moon foregrounds the enduring advocacy and agency of Alexandria's Black residents, deepening our understanding of how race and place intersect.