Wanted: Powerful Voice and a Love of Colonial History

In an era of instant global communications--when Washingtonians are chatting with Afghans at the click of a mouse--the City of Alexandria, Va., is looking for an old-fashioned town crier.

Applicants, the city says, should have a powerful voice, lungs of steel and a willingness to make public appearances in heavy wool 18th-century attire--in winter and sweltering summer.

He or she must possess excellent public speaking and writing skills, a sense of humor and a love of children, parades, crowds and tourists. Knowledge of Alexandria’s city protocol is a must, as is endurance.

Oh, and the crier must provide his or her own Colonial attire.

The salary? Nothing. But the city promises you’ll have a place in history.

The town crier “personifies what our whole history is all about. The 1700s and Colonial period are alive and well in Alexandria,” said City Councilwoman Redella S. “Del” Pepper, who noted that George Washington slept, ate, danced, worshiped and worked in the historic city.

The crier “is what brings to life our history,” she said.

The honorary city position was created by Francis Taylor Slate, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, who for 20 years presided over historical celebrations in Alexandria. He died May 27, leaving a legacy as a history enthusiast devoted to bringing the Colonial period to life.

Slate’s wife, Anne, a historian by profession who died in 1996, sewed their authentic Colonial attire, now on display at Gadsby’s Tavern Museum in Alexandria. Slate rang an 18th-century bell and hand-wrote his proclamations on parchment. He appeared in parades, historical reenactments, school programs and at business openings.

“Oyez, oyez, welcome one and all,” Slate bellowed in an earsplitting 97-decibel shout which, in 1990, won him an international championship for town criers. That’s louder than a leaf blower and 12 decibels above the level considered harmful to the human ear.

“How Mr. Slate could cry at 97 decibels without doing himself serious damage is a question I cannot answer,” said Liz Milner, a spokeswoman for the Office of Historic Alexandria.

“Oyez” is a French interjection meaning, “Pay heed and listen.” Town criers used the term to get the attention of crowds, said Thom Joordens, the town crier of Fredericton in the Canadian province of New Brunswick.

The Office of Historic Alexandria is advertising the town crier position on news releases and its Web site, asking applicants to send audition tapes, a cover letter and a resume to P.O. Box 178, City Hall, Alexandria, Va. 22313.

A city panel of judges will review audition tapes, Milner said. “We’re hoping to find our crier by September and hold a cry-off to sort of introduce him to the world,” she said.

The first official task of Alexandria’s new town crier probably will be to “cry” Dec. 31, when Alexandria holds its First Night celebration and kicks off a yearlong commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the city’s founding.