New Civil War Marker Honors African-American Woodcutters in Burke

Burke Connection
By Tim Peterson
February 19, 2015

Fairfax County History commissioner Debbie Robison and her father Frank Palmer stand behind the new Civil War historical marker in Burke.

Centreville resident Debbie Robison hasn’t chopped a cord of lumber or laid a railroad trestle. But for more than a year she’s done hard labor at the National Archives and Records Administration, researching Civil War area railroad workers in Northern Virginia.

Patrick Lennon of Visit Fairfax approached the Fairfax County History Commission in 2011 with the idea of participating in the state sesquicentennial remembrance of the Civil War. Several years into their participation, Robison, a history commissioner representing the Sully district, thought it would be a good idea to create a
historical marker honoring the contributions of African-Americans to the war (read more).