View as Webpage

This Week - REWIND!!

The Making of a Pearl: The Life of Quince Orchard Resident Ida Pearl Green

with Dr. Kisha Davis

Through daily weekday breakfasts with her grandmother, 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 at the time of this recording, Mrs. Green was a lifelong resident of Montgomery County. Through her family’s history from slavery through integration of both schools and churches, her granddaughter shares the complex history of race relations in the county. It is a testament to resilience and turning adversity into something beautiful. Originally aired February 2024

Next Week

A Trending Topics Webinar in Partnership with the League of Women Voters

Immigrant Rights in Montgomery County: What Does Due Process Look Like?

Moderated by Maria Sprehn-Malagón

February 12, 2025 at 7:00-830 p.m.

Montgomery History is dedicated to making our past inclusive and relevant to all Montgomery County residents and few topics have shaped this community more over the last 50 years than immigration.

Do you know the status of civil and human rights for immigrant and refugee populations in our county? To learn more about this critical topic, join us on Thursday, February 12, 7:00-8:30 p.m., to hear perspectives from:

• Earl Stoddard, Assistant Chief Administrative Officer, Montgomery County, Maryland
• Ama Frimpong , Legal Director, CASA 
• Stephanie Wolf, Director of Immigration Services Division, Maryland Office of the Public Defender

The program, presented in partnership with the League of Women Voters, will be moderated by Maria Sprehn-Malagón, a professor of anthropology at Montgomery College who focuses on oral history, immigration, and Latino culture in the Washington, D.C. area. 

**This session will be conducted via Zoom. Please register below or visit our website for the link to register.  If you have questions about accessing the talk, please contact Matt Gagle, Director of Programs, at MGagle@MontgomeryHistory.org.**

Last Week

The Early Slave Trade in Montgomery County

with Anthony Cohen

The African slave trade was firmly entrenched in Montgomery County by the time of its founding in 1776. Discover the European and African nations involved, the earliest enslaved arrivals, and learn of their customs and skills, and how they helped to transform the landscape of the region. This presentation will show how the international movement morphed into a domestic trade, from the Chesapeake to the Deep South after the Louisiana Purchase, and its lingering effects from the time of Revolution to Maryland emancipation in 1864.

History Day Volunteers Needed

Sign up today to be a judge!

Help Us Uncover the Past

Have you seen this missing table?

Image: Malcolm Walter Collection, courtesy of Peerless Rockville

This interior photo of the Farmers Banking and Trust Co. building at 4 Courthouse Square shows the lobby as it appeared when the building opened in November of 1930. Montgomery History will soon be renovating the building which will open as the Montgomery County History Center later this year. This picture, from the Malcolm Walter Collection held by Peerless Rockville, was shared with us when we began researching the nearly-100-year history of the bank. At center can be seen a bespoke deposit slip/check-writing table, the design of which echoes the Art Deco architectural elements featured throughout the building. This table is no longer onsite, likely removed in the 1954 renovation of the lobby space along with the teller windows and the gates in front of the vault. We would love to be able to recover any of these elements from the original lobby. Do you or someone you know have clues as to the location of this table, or the other decorative elements in the photo? Please email us at info@montgomeryhistory.org if you have any information.

Henson Museum Hosting Online Book Club

Next selection "All That She Carried" by Dr. Tiya Miles

Commemorate 250 years of American independence by delving into diverse narratives and experiences that shaped this country. Through fiction and nonfiction, we’ll examine our shared past and its impact on today.

Meetings will be held online and facilitated by staff from the Josiah Henson Museum and Park.

Schedule

• Wednesday, February 11, 2026 - 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. - “All That She Carried” by Dr. Tiya Miles, 2021 National Book Award winner. In 1850s South Carolina, an enslaved woman named Rose faced a crisis: the imminent sale of her daughter Ashley. Thinking quickly, she packed a cotton bag for her with a few items, and, soon after, the nine-year-old girl was separated from her mother and sold. Decades later, Ashley’s granddaughter Ruth embroidered this family history on the sack in spare, haunting language. Historian Tiya Miles carefully traces these women’s faint presence in archival records, and, where archives fall short, she turns to objects, art, and the environment to write a singular history of the experience of slavery, and the uncertain freedom afterward, in the United States. All That She Carried is a poignant story of resilience and love passed down against steep odds. It honors the creativity and resourcefulness of people who preserved family ties when official systems refused to do so, and it serves as a visionary illustration of how to reconstruct and recount their stories today.
• Wednesday, March 11, 2026 - 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. - “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” by Jamie Ford

Learn more and sign up here.

Black History Month Events

Learn more throughout the county

Learn more about Montgomery County's Black heritage and culture throughout Black History month. Highlighted below are several events taking place this coming week.

Germantown Novel Views Book Discussion- In-person - "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store" by James McBride

Wednesday, February 4, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at the Germantown Library

Join the Germantown Novel Views Book Discussion to talk about "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store" by James McBride. This book will be read in recognition of Black History Month.

Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden

Wednesday February 5, 7:00-8:30 p.m. - Free online event, Register here. 

Author Camile Dungy discusses her memoir of gardening, motherhood and her seven-year odyssey to diversify her garden. This online presentation is sponsored by Brookside Gardens and Friends of Brookside Gardens. 

Glen Echo Park Civil Rights and History Tour with National Park Service

Saturday, February 7, 10:00 a.m. at Glen Echo Park - Meet at the Dentzel Carousel

Who led the Civil Rights protests to desegregate Glen Echo Amusement Park in 1960? Which amusement park ride was a focal point of the protests? How did Glen Echo Park become part of the National Park System? Explore Glen Echo Park’s history on this 45-minute free walking tour and find out the answers to these questions and more! No registration required.

Black History Month Family Day at Woodlawn Manor Cultural Park

Sunday, February 8, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Woodlawn Manor Cultural Park

Families can drop-in to Black History Month Family Day at Woodlawn Manor Cultural Park. Participate in hands-on activities including compass making, share what freedom means to you, map your own family tree, and more. Families can also listen in on storytime at 11:30 am and 1:30 pm. The cost is free.

KID Museum Black History Month Celebration

Join the KID Museum to honor and celebrate Black cultures and the contributions of Black artists, makers, scientists, engineers, and innovators at our Black History Month Community Celebration. See KID Museum's website for a variety of events or stop by for a monthlong drop-in Make Your Voice Heard - KID Museum will be exploring a crafty method for change: advocacy signs! Advocacy signs — also called “protest,” “demonstration,” or “picket” signs — can be powerful tools for social change, helping us express what matters most and inspire others to take action. Dr. King and other Black American activists showed us that when we use our voices, creativity, and courage, we can help build a more just and loving world.

It Happened Here: Remembering Three Lynchings - Presented by Montgomery County Lynching Memorial Project

Photo Exhibit hosted by Montgomery County Libraries

January 16 - February 15 at Potomac Library, 10101 Glenolden Dr, Potomac

February 16 - March 15 at Brig. Gen. McGee Library, 900 Wayne Ave, Silver Spring

March 16 - April 15 at Olney Library, 3500 Olney Library, Olney

If you want to plan ahead for later in the month see Montgomery County Public Libraries, Glen Echo Park and Montgomery Parks for further events.

Read more about Montgomery County's rich African American history on our website.

The Galilean Fisherman’s Temple in Rockville, depicted in this postcard from Montgomery History’s Jane Sween Research Library's collection, was home to the Eureka Tabernacle Number 29 of the Order of the Galilean Fishermen. The organization was a fraternal order founded in Baltimore in 1856 to provide mutual aid support to the Black community. 

Rockville’s Order was founded in 1887, and the temple pictured here (no longer standing) was built in 1903. As a benevolent society providing various services to its community, the Order's temple building served as a center for community life--a place where dances, concerts, lectures, meetings, and dramatics were held. In 1917, the Galilean Fishermen acquired two acres of land in Lincoln Park from Margaret Griffith for use as a cemetery to ensure burial sites for their members, who were denied burial in most segregated cemeteries throughout the county. In addition to caring for sick and elderly members of the community, the organization as a whole was a strong proponent of civil rights. In 1889, the Maryland-headquartered Fishermen raised money to defend eighteen Black guano miners, employed by a Baltimore company, that were accused of murder during a riot on Navassa Island. The case went before the Supreme Court in 1890, where attorney Everett J. Waring became the first Black lawyer to present oral arguments to that ruling body. The Supreme Court denied the appeal, but due to organizing efforts of the Order of the Galilean Fishermen, President Benjamin Harrison commuted the death sentences of the convicted men to prison time instead. 

Fifty-four percent of you knew that the Gaithersburg Latitude Observatory was located on the northern part of Ignatius Thomas Fulks' farm.

Image: Barn at Summit Hall Farm, from the collection of Montgomery History

Ignatius T. Fulks (1832-1931) leased a portion of his property to the government for Gaithersburg’s Latitude Observatory to occupy for a period of 99 years. The site was thought to be ideal because in addition to being at the required 39°08’ North Latitude, it was situated at a higher elevation with a fair proportion of clear nights. It was also a mere half mile from the Gaithersburg train station, providing easy access into Washington, D.C.. only 21 miles away, At the time of his death at the age of 99, it was noted that Fulks was likely the county’s oldest citizen. He had taught school for about ten years, owned a mercantile business for thirty, and served as president of the Gaithersburg Milling and Manufacturing Company in addition to operating his farm, called Summit Hall. He was also elected as both mayor of Gaithersburg and a member of the Town Council. The Fulks farm was sold to the City of Gaithersburg in 1982 and became known as Summit Hall Farm Park.

Love our content?

Support Montgomery History today!

Want to know more about philanthropy at Montgomery History? Contact Director of Development Brenna Ryan at BRyan@MontgomeryHistory.org or 301-340-2825 x 3. Thank you!