Four Ways to Support the Arlington House Descendants’ Family Circle

Ending Racism USA’s partner, the Arlington House Descendants’ Family Circle, is making progress. One of their goals is to have Congress pass H.J. Res. 76, a bill, to Redesignate the Robert E. Lee Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery as the “Arlington House National Historic Site.”

The site redesignation is important because the name should reflect the memory of all those who lived and worked on the plantation. This includes both white enslavers and enslaved Blacks.

You can begin by learning more about the project. And below are four things you can do today.

You can lobby Congress

As of early April, 108 members of the House of Representatives have signed on as cosponsors of the legislation. To find your representative’s name, go to the Directory of Representatives website and type your zip code in the “Find Your Representative” box in the upper right corner.

You can also check if your member of Congress is a cosponsor on the H.J.Res.76 Joint Resolution Cosponsors page.

If your member is not a cosponsor yet, you can use this template to write a letter. Look up the physical address, email, and phone number on the Members of the U.S. Congress website.

You can sign the petition calling on Congress to pass the legislation

It only takes a few minutes to sign the petition. When you add your name and zip code, it shows there is support for the redesignation across the country.

You can forward this article to friends and share it on social media

Click on the envelope icon in the sidebar on the right (or below this article on small screens) to email the article to a friend. Click on any of the social media icons to log in and post to that site.

You can contact the organizers

If you have ideas about supporting this project, questions, or want more information you can contact the Arlington House Descendants’ Family Circle.