African American History: Oral Histories
Montgomery History has initiated multiple oral history projects since the late 1960s, amassing a sizable collection of interviews that encapsulate our county’s history through first-person accounts. Featured here are interviews with many African American residents of Montgomery County who have made innumerable contributions to our community in education, politics, religious leadership, social activism, community building, and cultural memory over the last 100 years.
Nina Honemond Clarke
Nina H. Clarke (1918-2021) lived in Montgomery County her entire life. Early in her 36-year tenure as a teacher and principal in the Montgomery County Public Schools, Ms. Clarke served on the professional committee appointed by the School Board to plan the integration process in 1954-1955. After integration, she continued in the school system and retired in 1973 as principal of Aspen Hill Elementary School. Following her retirement she transitioned to a career as a public educator and an expert local historian, co-authoring two definitive books on the history of the Black schools and the Black churches in Montgomery County. She was interviewed twice in 2003, by Paul Van Nevel and also by Lisa Crawley.
Reverend James E. Prather
Reverend James E. Prather (1911-2002) was a community leader born in Prathertown (a community near Gaithersburg), Maryland in 1911. He attended Asbury United Church Seminary, Rockville Baptist Seminary, and Catholic University. Prather was the long-time pastor of the Poplar Grove Baptist Church in Darnestown. He served as a member of the Montgomery County Medical Care Foundation, the Board of Trustees of Suburban Hospital, and the Masonic Lodge of Rockville, as well as serving as a member on the Advisory Committee on Integration in the Public Schools. Interviewed by Andrea Stevens in 1976, Rev. Prather shares the history of Prathertown and the path leading to his ministerial career as an evangelist, radio host, and full-time pastor.
Doris Hackey
Doris Hackey (1928-2018) grew up in Germantown, Maryland attending the segregated schools, then did coursework at Miner’s Teachers College, Bowie State, Montgomery College, and Towson. Her coursework qualified her for a teacher’s card, which enabled her to substitute-teach in the segregated Montgomery County schools, including Germantown, Quince Orchard, and Edward U. Taylor, among others. As a young mother and teacher, she experienced the integration of the public schools in the 1950s and was also influential in working toward integration of the Catholic Schools in Germantown. Interviewed by Paul Van Nevel in 2004, Hackey speaks about her upbringing in Montgomery County as well as her experience with the integration process and its aftermath.
Geneva Mason
Geneva Mason (1899-1980) was a prominent leader in the Scotland community of Montgomery County. Born in 1899 in Washington, D.C. and raised in Georgetown, she graduated from the O Street Vocational School. Then in 1917, Mason moved to the Scotland community in Potomac, Maryland. She was the first Black woman from her district to serve on the Montgomery County Government Committee, where she worked to improve health care, housing, education, and water and sewer services in Scotland. In the 1950s, Mason worked with the Board of Education on integration of schools, served on the Charter Commission Committee and the Suburban Hospital Committee, and spent 17 years fostering over 25 children in her community. She was interviewed by Joyce Siegel in 1975, discussing the location and development of the Scotland community between 1917-1975, and the integration of schools in Montgomery County.
Reverend Anna L. Talley
Reverend Anna L. Talley (1918-1992) was a community leader in Montgomery County born in 1918 in Seneca, Maryland, where she spent her childhood. She attended Montgomery County Public Schools and Howard University. She worked as a practical nurse from 1950 to 1962 and was ordained as a minister in 1960. Talley was the founder and Pastor of Mount of Olives Church in Darnestown, Maryland. She also served on the PTA and other community organizations and as a foster parent to numerous children. Interviewed in 1977 by Luella Eldrigde, Rev. Talley reflects on her life as a preacher in an independent, evangelical church in Montgomery County and a community leader.
Annie Proctor Rhodes
Annie Proctor Rhodes (b. 1927) shares her memories of growing up in the Black community of Haiti in Rockville, Maryland during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as her experience as a teacher in both the segregated and integrated school system in Montgomery County. Along with her daughter, Dana Hackey, Ms. Rhodes was interviewed at her home in Delaware in 2021 by Paul Holmes of the Montgomery County Lynching Memorial Project .
Edith Throckmorton
Edith Throckmorton (1901-1982) was born in Jefferson County, West Virginia in 1901, and moved to Pennsylvania with her family in 1912. After completing her education at Pennsylvania State Teachers College, she moved to Maryland to accept a position in the Calvert County schools, moving up in the system to teaching principal in Frederick County, principal in Cambridge, and principal of Sellman, Sandy Spring, Laytonsville and Longview segregated schools in Montgomery County from 1939-1959. She resigned in 1959 from the Montgomery Public Schools, taking leadership in the Montgomery County chapter of the NAACP and becoming its president by 1962. During her tenure there she advocated for fair housing and equal employment opportunities for low-income residents, as well as helping to establish the Human Relations commission in government agencies. Her decades of leadership in Montgomery County led to important legislation, community awareness, and vital programs for the poor and disenfranchised. Interviewed in 1977 by Jeannine Jeffs, Ms. Throckmorton shares her experiences as an educator and civil rights leader in the country.
Reverend Jane E. Wood
Reverend Jane E. Wood (1947- ) is a fifth-generation resident of Rockville. She attended Rock Terrace Elementary School during segregation and then went to Broome Junior High and Richard Montgomery High School. She has a BS in Social Sciences from the University of Maryland University College (2006), and an MA from Wesley Theological Seminary (2015). She has held positions at IBM and the federal government, and she has been a United Methodist clergywoman for more than 30 years. She served as the pastor of Jerusalem/Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church of Rockville, retiring in 2019. Rev. Wood talks to interviewer Stephanie Lee in 2004 about growing up in Rockville and the aftermath of school integration in the wake of the Brown v. Board of Education decision.
Joan Taylor Kelly and John C. Kelly, Sr.
Joan Taylor Kelly, daughter of Edward U. Taylor, shares, along with her husband John C. Kelly, Sr., about the life and career of her father, one-time supervisor of schools in Montgomery County and namesake of the historically-designated Edward U. Taylor Elementary School in Boyds, Maryland. Interviewed by Rebeccah Ballo of the Historic Preservation division of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission in 2023, Mr. and Mrs. Kelly discuss Mr. Taylor’s early life and education, his career with the schools, as well as his family and church life within the Emory Grove community.
William E. Wood
Rockville resident William E. Wood talks about his life in the Haiti neighborhood spanning the majority of the 20th century, including the Rockville 30 Club and the Odd Fellows, George Meads and the original Rockville Fire Department, Klan activity and a near-lynching in Rockville in the early 1900s, African-American cemeteries in Lincoln Park, attending the segregated schools, the legal case for equal teachers’ salaries brought by Mr. William Gibbs, and more. Interviewed by Sharyn Duffin and Jeannine Jeffs in 1976.
Edgar Dove
Interviewed in 2018 by Joan Zenzen, 83-year-old Edgar Dove shares his life experiences growing up mid-century in the Montgomery County community of Scotland, including the housing development of the 1960s, and the experience of living in the former housing versus the new housing. He talks about the changes that have taken place in demographics in the Scotland community in the later part of the 20th century, including the naming of the recreation center in Scotland. He also discusses his own education as well as his work experience as a golf caddy, a pin-setter at the bowling alley, an A&P grocery store employee, and a school bus driver.
Inez Ziegler McAbee
Inez Ziegler McAbee, a native of Damascus, tells the story of growing up in this rural upcounty community. McAbee shares what life was like for African American families from the early 20th century through integration and provides insight into institutions of the black community including the Damascus Colored School and the Friendship United Methodist Church. Interviewed in 1976 by Janie W. Payne of the Damascus Bicentennial Oral History Commission.
Isiah “Ike” Leggett
Interviewed by Paul VanNevel in 2004 (prior to his election as County Executive), four-term Montgomery County councilmember and Council President Ike Leggett discusses his early life, education, and political achievements. He started his career a professor of law and the assistant/associate dean at the Howard University Law School. He also served as a captain in the Army, during which he did a tour in Vietnam. Leggett holds four degrees: A Bachelor of Arts from Southern University, a Master of Arts and a Juris Doctorate from Howard University, and a Master of Laws from The George Washington University. Isiah (Ike) Leggett served three consecutive terms as Montgomery County Executive (2006-2018). In 2016, he served as president of Maryland Association of Counties and president of the County Executives of America.
Margaret Taylor Jones
Margaret Taylor Jones (1907-1977) earned her bachelor’s degree from Howard University and her master’s degree from Columbia University. For 40 years, she worked as a teacher, supervisor, and principal in Montgomery County Public Schools. She taught elementary school at the Scotland School and Rockville Elementary School for 20 years and served as President of the Montgomery County Parent-Teacher Association Council (Black) from 1943 to 1953. From 1951 to 1955, she acted as Supervisor for the Black elementary schools in the county, while continuing as principal of Rock Terrace Elementary School. In 1959, she was appointed as the first Black principal of Bannockburn Elementary School, at the time an all-white school in the Bethesda area. Interviewed in 1972 by Anne Elsbree, Ms. Jones talks about her early life and teaching in the segregated education system as well as her experiences with the desegregation process in Montgomery County.