Montgomery History

18th Montgomery County History Conference
2023-11-04 08:00 - 16:30 (America/New_York)
Join Montgomery History on November 4, 2023 for the 18th edition of the ever-popular Montgomery County History Conference. We’re again partnering with Montgomery College and will be holding it in-person, for the first time since 2020, on their Rockville campus. As always, the conference will offer myriad opportunities to engage with local history, including a keynote address, eight breakouts, a boxed lunch, a performance, and a happy hour reception. Registration includes access to recordings of all ten sessions following the conference! The morning keynote will be about the “Black Chevy Chase” and the wide variety of techniques, not just restrictive covenants, used to prevent homeownership and development by Blacks in the early 20th century. This is one you won’t want to miss. Breakout sessions will cover such wide-ranging topics as Emory Grove’s renowned Du-Drop Inn, historic homes and barns of the Ag Reserve, the families of the Agricultural History Farm Park, Sentinel publisher Rebecca Fields, a history of enslavement in Kensington, the county’s Poor Farm, the seven enslavers who have public schools named for them, and new techniques for indigenous archaeological research. We will end the conference with “A Rockville Journal,” a peek back in time to 1850s Rockville with a portrayal of a local attorney by actor Steve LaRocque. At the conclusion of the performance, you’ll want to catch up with old friends and meet new ones at our happy hour reception. Speaker Bios Register here

History Conversations REWIND: Emancipation in Montgomery County, Maryland
2023-10-30 - 2023-11-06
With Susan Soderberg and Eileen McGuckian On November 1, 1864, Maryland became the first state below the Mason-Dixon Line to free slaves within its boundaries by popular vote. On the 156th anniversary of Emancipation in the Old Line State, two chroniclers of Montgomery County history will describe local experiences with slavery, war, emancipation, and its aftermath. Rewind available October 30 – November 6.

History Conversations: Canavest: A Final Piscataway Outpost in Colonial Maryland
2023-10-24 14:00 - 15:30 UTC
Register Here Canavest (located on Heater’s Island) was the last permanent village of the Piscataway Indians in Maryland. Various aspects of the site—which was occupied from 1699 to at least 1712—are vividly described in a series of colonial documents from Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. These archival records are paired with analysis of archeological remains to provide a glimpse of late 17th and early 18th century Piscataway life. Retired Maryland Historic Trust Chief Archeologist Dennis Curry will discuss Piscataway movements over time, Piscataway material culture and lifeways, and Piscataway–English interactions.

History Conversations REWIND: Spooky Stories from the State Archives
2023-10-17 - 2023-10-24
For National Archives Month, we’re highlighting this talk with Rachel Frazier, Searchroom Coordinator at the Maryland State Archives, as we explore the spookier side of archives. Get into the Halloween spirit with strange records and spooky stories from the stacks of the Maryland State Archives, covering Montgomery County and beyond. Rewind available October 16-22.

History Conversations REWIND: First Americans and England’s Potomac Frontier, 1606-1676
2023-10-09 - 2023-10-17
In honor of Indigenous Peoples Day, we’re featuring this rewind from the 2021 Montgomery County History Conference. In 1607, most of the Algonquian-speaking peoples of the Potomac River Valley not only were involved in their own alliances and squabbles, they also were linked with other peoples through a complex web of trade, alliances, and conflict that stretched far beyond the banks of the Potomac. This tumultuous native political landscape affected the development of relations with the invading Europeans and the course of colonial and imperial powers in the region from the Great Lakes to the Virginia Capes. Dr. Stephen Potter draws on a combination of ethnohistorical, historical, and archaeological data to offer new perspectives on the critical decades following the establishment of Jamestown, Virginia, and the founding of St. Mary’s City in Maryland. Rewind available October 9-16.

History Conversations REWIND: Old Time Music in Montgomery County: Will Adams and Beyond
2023-10-01 - 2023-10-08
For International Music day on October 1, We’re sharing this presentation from the 2021 Montgomery County History conference with Jake Blount. This presentation goes in-depth in describing the fiddle and banjo traditions of the Montgomery County area throughout history, with special focus on the music of Will Adams, a Black fiddler from Kensington, Maryland. Topics include the early folk music of the Chesapeake Bay region and the modern bluegrass and old-time scenes that developed in D.C., Baltimore, and the stretch in between. Rewind available Oct 1-8.

History Conversations REWIND: The Life and Hats of Milliner Mae Reeves; A Conversation with her Daughter, Donna Limerick
2023-09-25 - 2023-10-01
One of the many extraordinary exhibits in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture is Mae’s Millinery Shop. Lifted nearly complete from its original home in Philadelphia, it is now recognized as a historical treasure. Mae’s daughter, Donna Limerick, a longtime resident of Montgomery County, will join Montgomery History’s former Collections Manager, Elizabeth Lay, to discuss her mother’s entrepreneurial spirit, share memories of waiting on customers in the shop, and reveal cherished family photographs. Rewind available September 25-Oct 1.

History Conversations: The Working White House
2023-09-19 14:00 - 15:00 UTC
Since 1800, hundreds of dedicated staff members have worked behind the scenes to help the White House fulfill its roles as a seat of government, a family residence, and a historic site. Join White House Historical Association historian Sarah Fling as she highlights lesser-known stories of enslaved and free White House workers throughout history.

History Conversations: Lilly Stone - A Daring Woman
2023-09-12 14:00 - 15:00 UTC
Lilly Stone is a story of country life and manners near the Nation’s Capital in the late 1800s, and a daring woman’s life. Lilly Stone was born during the Civil War, and she died during the Cold War. At the stage of life when most people retire, she was not only doing men’s work but running an industry of men’s work. In 1924, at the age of 63, Mrs. Stone founded and operated Stoneyhurst, a quarry for colorful stone used in part of the National Cathedral, National Zoo and for hundreds of buildings and homes. Clara Barton encouraged her to join the DAR. Lilly Stone organized the first literary and arts clubs in the farming community, inspired the first flag for Montgomery County, Maryland, and founded the Montgomery County Historical Society. The book describes the divided loyalties of County residents living close to the Potomac River during the Civil War; letters from Lilly’s son detail World War I, and, remarkably, World War II brings German POWs to work at her quarry. With accomplishments in business and a passion for preserving history, Lilly Stone made history herself. Register
