Welcome to the Gravestone Stories media kit. This page gathers what writers, editors, producers, and event organizers usually ask for: bios, background, story ideas, photographs, and the best way to reach David Heiby. You’re welcome to use the text as written or trim it to fit.
About David Heiby
Short Bio
David Heiby is an independent historian and the Superintendent of the Presbyterian Cemetery in Alexandria, Virginia. He founded Gravestone Stories, a digital museum and tour program documenting Alexandria’s historic burial grounds, and has led cemetery tours since 2012. He writes a twice-monthly history column for the Alexandria Gazette Packet.
Full Bio
David Heiby is an independent historian and has been Superintendent of the Presbyterian Cemetery in Alexandria, Virginia, since 2015. In 2022 he founded Gravestone Stories, a digital museum documenting the more than 35,000 people buried in the 13 cemeteries of the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex and in Alexandria’s other historic burial grounds. He has led cemetery tours since 2012 and Civil War battlefield tours for about 25 years.
A lifelong member of the Old Presbyterian Meeting House, David cares for the cemetery where his parents and his aunt and uncle are buried, and where he plans to be buried himself. He describes the work as watching over the people who raised him and the generations who built the church and the congregation that raised him.
David is Treasurer of the Alexandria Historical Society and of the Virginia Trust for Historic Preservation, which owns and operates the Lee-Fendall House Museum and Garden. In October 2026 he was appointed to the Alexandria Archaeological Commission by City Council and received the DAR Excellence in Community Service Award from the Kate Waller Barrett Chapter, NSDAR. He writes a twice-monthly history column for the Alexandria Gazette Packet and has taught at the Lifetime Learning Institute of Northern Virginia. Many Alexandrians know him as “Grave Dave.”
Credit Line
For bylines and captions: David Heiby, independent historian and founder of Gravestone Stories.
About Gravestone Stories
Gravestone Stories is a digital museum first, one that also happens to offer tours. Founded in 2022 and run by David alone, it documents Alexandria’s historic burial grounds through more than 400 sourced biographies, interactive cemetery maps, a registry of 162 Revolutionary War patriots buried in Alexandria, and free self-guided brochures. Its research has been cited by the Dictionary of Virginia Biography and in the National Register nomination for the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex.
David leads four historian-led walking tours, including the flagship walk through the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex and From Enslavement to Justice, in which participants read aloud the first-person stories of twenty-three Alexandrians.
Story Ideas
Finding the lost. In 2024 David, working with historian Catherine Weinraub and archaeologist Mark Ludlow, located the unmarked grave of Charles Glasscock, Alexandria’s first firefighter to die in the line of duty, by matching a cemetery record with a ground-penetrating radar survey. His research may also have found the long-lost grave of Colonel George Gilpin, an honorary pallbearer at George Washington’s funeral.
The patriots next door. David’s registry identifies 162 Revolutionary War patriots buried in Alexandria, from Washington’s pallbearers and doctors to soldiers whose names are nearly forgotten. Each year he helps with the Presidents’ Day wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier at the Old Presbyterian Meeting House.
Thirteen cemeteries, one complex. The Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex holds thirteen burial grounds side by side on the west edge of Old Town. In June 2026, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources found the complex eligible for the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register.
Voices of enslavement and freedom. The From Enslavement to Justice tour tells Alexandria’s African American history through the words of the people who lived it, read aloud by tour participants at the places connected to their lives.
Through the calendar. David is available around Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and the December Wreaths Across America observance at Alexandria National Cemetery, where he volunteers each year.
At Halloween. David is glad to talk about cemetery symbolism, burial customs, and the real people behind local legends such as the Female Stranger. As a historian, he doesn’t tell ghost stories.
Recent Coverage
Gravestone Stories and David’s work have appeared in AARP, Emerging Civil War, the Alexandria Gazette Packet, The Zebra Press, the Alexandria Times, Historic Alexandria Quarterly, and Visit Alexandria’s newsletters and annual report. The full archive is on our Press Coverage page.
Gravestone Stories Media Kit Photographs
The photograph in the Gravestone Stories media kit may be used with the credit “Courtesy of Gravestone Stories, gravestonestories.com.” High-resolution versions and additional photographs are available on request.
Contact
Questions about anything in the Gravestone Stories media kit? The best way to reach David is by email at dave@gravestonestories.com or by text message at (703) 869-0872. Please text rather than call. He is happy to meet reporters and film crews in the cemeteries for interviews.
Page last updated: October 2026