with Maria Day, Senior Director of Special Collections, Conservation and Library Services, Maryland State Archives | A team from the Maryland State Archives has been building partnerships with Indigenous communities in the Chesapeake region since 2019. Learn about the website, Mayis Indigenous records, where the Archives provides public access to records and information about Native Americans. Ms. […]

with Hank Levine | Ever wondered how (and why) Bethesda came to be where and what it is today? Bethesda Historical Society Secretary and Tour Chair Hank Levine will take us through how, between 1750 and 1920, a fall line, a ridge line, a turnpike, a trolley line, rail lines, the coming of the automobile, […]

Presented by Nancy Pickard, with an introduction from Ellen Prentiss Campbell | On January 13, 2021, the Secretary of the Interior designated a small cottage in Rockville, Maryland, locally known as Frieda’s Cottage, as a National Historic Landmark. It earned this remarkable national recognition for its association with Dr. Frieda Fromm-Reichmann and her significant contributions […]

Tuesday, February 6 at 2 p.m.with Dr. Kisha Davis | Through daily weekday breakfasts with her grandmother Ida Pearl Green, Dr. Kisha Davis learned stories of family and an African American community in Quince Orchard which went much deeper than the name of her school or a road named Quince Orchard. At 105 years young, Mrs. […]

New Date Tuesday, February 13 at 2 p.m.with Phil Edwards | Washington Grove is a small town in the middle of Montgomery County with a unique form of government. It was called by its first mayor, “a Town within a forest, an oasis of tranquility and a rustic jewel in the diadem of the great free state […]

with Jenny Masur | Maryland was the starting point of many unsung heroes of the Underground Railroad. Freedom seekers embarked on the perilous journey from slavery to freedom in whatever way they could. John Thompson signed onto a whaling ship. James Watkins sailed to England and became a lecturer on slavery. Hester Norman fled, was […]

Tuesday, February 27 at 2 p.m.with Paul Kreingold | In his talk on “Potomac Marble: The History of the Search for the Ideal Stone,” Paul Kreingold explores the aftermath of Washington’s 1814 destruction by the British, highlighting President Monroe and Benjamin Latrobe’s quest to rebuild the capital with symbolic and aesthetically pleasing materials. They selected Potomac […]

with Jennifer Wilcox, National Cryptology Museum Director of Education |Women played a large, but rarely told, role in WWII cryptology. College women were recruited from math departments at colleges around the country to learn cryptanalysis. Thousands of other women joining the Army and Navy were assigned to code work operating machines that broke enemy codes […]

with Hank Levine, President of the Bethesda Meeting House FoundationThursday, March 14 at 7:00 p.m. | Despite being among the community’s most storied buildings, the Bethesda Meeting House -- “the church that named Bethesda” -- was vacant and deteriorating when acquired last year by the Bethesda Historical Society. Constructed in 1820 (and rebuilt in 1850 after […]

with Julianne ManginTuesday, March 19 at 2:00 p.m. | What do you do when your family stories don’t add up? All Julianne Mangin had wanted to do was fact-check her mother’s cryptic stories. But when she acquired her grandmother’s patient record from the state hospital, the secrets just poured out. In her book, Secrets of the […]

With John Lustrea from The Civil War Medical Museum | Clara Jones is just one of many volunteer Civil War nurses who helped care for the sick and wounded of the Civil War. Her letters in the collection of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine offer a unique view into the life of one woman […]

with Royce Hanson and Harold Wolman | Join authors Royce Hanson and Harold Wolman as they discuss their new book, Nation’s Metropolis, which describes how the national capital region functions as a metropolitan political economy. Hanson and Wolman distinguish aspects of the Washington region that reflect its characteristics as a national capital from those common to […]

with Blyth McManus, Museum Curator C&O Canal National Historical ParkTuesday, April 9 at 2:00 p.m. | In the museum collection of the C&O Canal National Historical Park is a shop ledger from a merchant in Williamsport, MD. Tracking purchases made between 1856-1858, the ledger provides tantalizing glimpses into the everyday lives of its customers. Materials like […]

with Don Housley | This presentation focuses on the rise and fall of the milling industry in Montgomery County. The talk describes the nature and diversity of milling operations on the major stream valleys in the County, along with some archaeology done on selected mill sites. Originally aired in December of 2021.  Available April 15 - 21.

with Ralph Buglass | Tuesday, April 23 at 2:00 p.m. | The Washington Aqueduct, carrying drinking water to the nation’s capital but running mostly through Montgomery County from Great Falls, was a technological marvel when completed 160 years ago in 1864. After all that time of continuous service, it is currently undergoing a major rehabilitation. Through current […]

with Tom Farquhar | The rich soil of Montgomery County has supported a wide variety of agricultural enterprises, ranging from millennia of crop cultivation by indigenous communities, to tobacco plantations of the first colonial settlers of European descent, progressing to market farming serving growing populations in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Today the agriculture of Montgomery County […]

with Jim Johnston | Tuesday, May 14 at 2:00 p.m. | The word “slavery” brings up a mental image of the “peculiar institution” as it existed in the Deep South right before the Civil War. Slavery in the Washington area was different. It began the same – in the late 1600s, Ninian Beall’s tobacco plantation occupied the […]

with Sammie Hatton, Montgomery History Collections Manager | Tuesday, June 4 at 2:00 p.m. | Montgomery History proudly holds and cares for 10,000+ objects within our object collection. These items range from textiles and portraits to ceramics and medical devices. This wide variety helps to tell the story of life here in Montgomery County throughout time. During […]

with Sandra Heiler | Tuesday, June 11 at 2:00 p.m. | Register Here June 11, 2024, marks the 250th anniversary of the Hungerford Resolves, when ten men from the area that became Montgomery County signed a set of historic agreements at Hungerford’s Tavern in the tiny crossroads village now called Rockville. Join Sandra Heiler as she […]

with Cemetery Archivist Glenn Wallace | Tuesday, July 9 at 2:00 p.m. |  Join Cemetery Archivist Glenn Wallace as he discusses cemetery issues throughout Maryland and Montgomery County. Using his extensive work at Monocacy Cemetery, Glenn will highlight how research volunteers can work to preserve local cemeteries.   Learn more about The Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites by […]

with Ralph Buglass | Tuesday, July 30 at 2:00 p.m. | Virtual Event | White’s Ferry--until recently closed--was a living history example of a long tradition of Potomac River ferries tying together Montgomery County and northern Virginia. And when the C&O Canal was operational for nearly 90 years, White’s, along with Edwards and Spinks ferries upcountry, took […]

with Judy Welles | | 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. Lilly’s papers and letters, documented by Welles, describe the divided loyalties […]

With Bert Coursey, PhD, NIST Retired, Chairman of NIST Alumni History Committee |Tuesday, August 27 at 2:00 p.m. | Virtual Event |  The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) began in 1901 as the National Bureau of Standards (NBS). For 65 years the main activities of the NBS were carried out on a small wooded […]

With Kenny Sholes |Thursday, September 19 at 7:00 p.m. | Virtual Event |  Otho Trundle’s barn, thought to have been built around 1830, will turn 200 in a few years. It’s believed that Civil War soldiers spent time resting here when the Confederate Army passed right by on their Maryland Campaign of 1862. Today, the barn […]

With Jeanne Gartner|Tuesday, September 24 at 2:00 p.m. | Virtual Event |  Reed Brothers Dodge was one of the longest running automobile dealerships in Montgomery County history, operating from two locations in Rockville for more than 97 years. This presentation features historical photographs taken by the dealership’s founder, Lewis Reed, and highlights how Reed Brothers Dodge […]

 In-person Event | The Montgomery County History Conference returns October 19 at Montgomery College’s Rockville Campus in the Parilla Performing Arts Center. The conference offers myriad opportunities to engage with local history, including a keynote address, nine breakouts, a boxed lunch, a documentary screening, and a happy hour reception.  Learn More