At Gravestone Stories, Alexandria’s buried history comes to life through original research, museum-quality interpretation, and immersive walking tours.
Founder David Heiby leads every Gravestone Stories tour, specializing in Alexandria’s historic cemetery landscape and American history from the colonial era through the 19th century. Historian Catherine Weinraub — an expert in Victorian cemeteries, Alexandria’s firefighting heritage, and historic preservation — joins him as a collaborating guide for special tours and living-history programs.
Together, they offer more than five decades of combined experience in historical research, museum interpretation, and heritage preservation. Their work has helped shape how residents, visitors, and history organizations experience Alexandria’s past — from lifelong history enthusiasts to first-time visitors.
David Heiby: A Living Bridge Between Alexandria’s Past and Present
David Heiby is the founder of Gravestone Stories, a research-driven public history project dedicated to preserving and sharing the stories buried within Alexandria’s historic cemeteries.
As Superintendent of the Presbyterian Cemetery & Columbarium within the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex, David combines hands-on preservation work with original historical research, digital interpretation, and nationally recognized walking tours. His work explores the lives of Revolutionary War patriots, Civil War soldiers, enslaved and free African Americans, political leaders, immigrants, and everyday Alexandrians whose stories shaped both local and American history.
Through Gravestone Stories, David has created one of the most extensive digital public-history resources focused on Alexandria’s burial grounds, featuring interactive maps, biographies, timelines, archival discoveries, and educational programming. His research has contributed to the rediscovery of long-forgotten graves, including one of George Washington’s lost pallbearers.
Today David leads all four Gravestone Stories walking tours — the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex, Rebellious Scoundrels at the Old Presbyterian Meeting House (where he has been a lifelong member for more than 60 years), From Enslavement to Justice, and the Cemetery Stories of the Lee-Fendall House — along with expert talks and living-history portrayals, including Mayor E. E. Downham at the Lee-Fendall House.
David also serves as Treasurer of the Virginia Trust for Historic Preservation, which operates the Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden, and Treasurer of the Alexandria Historical Society. Before turning his focus to Alexandria, he spent more than 25 years leading Civil War battlefield tours, and before that built and operated several successful businesses in the technology, industrial supply, and international trade sectors — experience that now helps support the growth and preservation mission behind Gravestone Stories.
“Where history lives — and discoveries still happen.”
CATHERINE WEINRAUB: HISTORIAN, PRESERVATIONIST, AND COLLABORATING GUIDE
Catherine Weinraub brings Alexandria’s past to life through compelling narratives and extensive historical research. Her professional background includes work with the Office of Historic Alexandria, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, and Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial.
She currently serves as Historian for the Ivy Hill Cemetery Historical Preservation Society, where she successfully led the effort to have Ivy Hill Cemetery listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2024. Initiating the process in 2022, Catherine coordinated research with the National Park Service and academic partners to secure this prestigious designation, ensuring lasting recognition for one of Alexandria’s most historic landscapes. She also serves as Historian for the Friendship Veterans Fire Engine Association, and in 2023 she authored Friendship Fire Company 250th Anniversary 1774-2024 Alexandria, Virginia, a book commemorating the city’s firefighting heritage and its longest-serving volunteer fire company.
Catherine now leads her acclaimed Ivy Hill Cemetery tours — Victorian funeral customs, the historic receiving vault, and the notable lives who shaped Alexandria — directly through the Ivy Hill Cemetery Historical Preservation Society. Visit ivyhillcemetery.net for their current tour schedule.
With Gravestone Stories, Catherine joins David as a collaborating guide for special tours and programs, and the two work together on living-history events at the Lee-Fendall House Museum, where her expertise in Victorian-era mourning customs meets his portrayals of nineteenth-century Alexandria.
Book Your Tour Today
Gravestone Stories tours are led by David Heiby: book the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex tour on Viator, watch for Rebellious Scoundrels dates on our Tours page, arrange From Enslavement to Justice or a private group tour through our request form, and find the Cemetery Stories of the Lee-Fendall House through the museum. For Catherine’s Ivy Hill Cemetery tours, book directly with the Ivy Hill Cemetery Historical Preservation Society.
