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 […]