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 […]

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. 

Register HereCanavest (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 […]

With Susan Soderberg and Eileen McGuckianOn 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 […]

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 […]

Historian Anthony Cohen will discuss his findings for Gaithersburg’s Black History Project. He will focus on the period after Gaithersburg was incorporated in 1878 as well as the emergence of African American settlements, businesses, and important figures. This event is part of the Gaithersburg History Project, and it’s sure to be an enlightening and thought-provoking […]

With Kacy Rohn For 25 years, Montgomery County’s Rustic Roads Program has protected the historic and scenic roadways that reflect the county’s agricultural character and rural origins. An update to the Rustic Roads Functional Master Plan is currently in progress. This talk, originally presented during the 2022 Montgomery County History Conference, will outline the work underway […]

History Conversations REWIND Since the late 1970s, the punk rock subculture has thrived in Montgomery County. The time between the opening (1977) and closing (2002) dates of Yesterday & Today Records—a punk scene hub that both inspired and employed countless punks—was a profoundly active time for punk music and culture in Montgomery County. This presentation by […]

with Jeanne Gartner, Barry Gartner, and Sarah HedlundJoin the creators of Montgomery History’s upcoming online exhibit, “Montgomery County, Then and Now: Photography of Lewis Reed and Barry Gartner” as they discuss the fascinating process of recreating historical photographs. In the early 1900s, photographer Lewis Reed captured hundreds of images throughout Montgomery County, featuring iconic structures, […]

with Hannah LaneThe Maryland State Colonization Society was a former auxiliary of the American Colonization Society (ACS) that recruited free and manumitted black Marylanders to settle in Liberia. From 1832 to 1861, the Maryland State Colonization Society was largely supported by appropriations from the Maryland General Assembly. Join Hannah Lane, research archivist in the Legacy of […]

with Robert AmbroseFort Frederick was built during the French and Indian War to protect Maryland from attack, but it would play an active part of American history over the course of three centuries. The fort would see service in the 1750s, and again during the American War of Independence and Civil War. It would be […]