History Conversations REWIND | Lilly Stone – A Daring Woman
February 2 - February 8
with Judy Welles | pre-recorded virtual event |
In this talk based on her book about the prominent Montgomery County socialite and businesswoman Lilly Stone, Judy Welles tells the story of a daring woman whose remarkable life extended from the Civil War through the Cold War. After Clara Barton encouraged her to join the DAR, Lilly Stone went on to organize the first literary and arts clubs in her farming community, design the first flag for Montgomery County, Maryland, and found the Montgomery County Historical Society. At the stage of life when most people retire, the widowed Mrs. Stone instead entered an industry dominated by men. In 1924, she founded Stoneyhurst Quarry, which yielded distinctive stone used in building the National Cathedral, the National Zoo, and hundreds of other buildings and homes around the nation’s capital. Lilly’s papers and letters, documented by Welles, describe the divided loyalties of County residents living close to the Potomac River during the Civil War, detail her son’s experience as a soldier in World War I, and tell how German POWs came to work at her quarry during World War II. Through her accomplishments in business and her passion for preserving history, Lilly Stone made history herself.
Originally aired September 2023.