WATCH

History Conversations
Enjoy our History Conversations, a program featuring periodic virtual lectures from our talented corps of speakers covering a wide variety of local history topics. Each lecture is live-streamed via Zoom and Facebook and then posted here for a week (below).

Upcoming Lectures:

History Conversations REWIND
“Looking Backward: A Future History of the Montgomery County Agricultural Reserve (c. 2080)”
Royce Hanson
Originally presented at the 2020 Montgomery County History Conference
Premieres Monday, January 18 @ 10:00 a.m.

In anticipation of the 2021 Montgomery County History Conference, enjoy a REWIND of last year’s morning keynote! Listen in as Royce Hanson, former Chairman of the Montgomery County Planning Board, tackles questions like: A hundred years after establishment of the Agricultural Reserve how will historians view it? As an anomaly in the urbanization of the Washington megalopolis? A major national example of urban agroecology that feeds the world’s greatest capital? An odd theme park with the world’s largest (93,000-acre) corn maze? Former farms that became a dense suburb of metropolitan Poolesville? All this and more in this week’s REWIND!

There is no registration link for this talk. The REWIND will premiere on our website at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, January 18 and be available to watch through Sunday.

Photo: Terri Pitts

Recent Lecture(s):

“African American Benevolent Societies in Montgomery County and Morningstar No. 88 of Order of Moses” with Diane Baxter and Paige Whitley 

“Inclusive Public History & Preservation Planning: LGBTQ History in Montgomery County and Maryland” with Meagan Baco (they/them/theirs), Rebeccah Ballo (she/her/hers), and Benjamin Egerman (he/him/his)

View and read more about the LGBTQ Heritage Context Study on the Preservation Maryland website.

Further reading on LGBTQ history and historic preservation in the DC metropolitan area and beyond available at the links below, all mentioned during the discussion on January 7:

https://montgomeryplanning.org/planning/historic/research-and-designation/lgbtq-heritage-sites/ Information from Montgomery Planning on preservation of LGBTQ Heritage Sites
https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2020/02/montgomery-co-schools-developing-an-lgbtq-history-class/ “Montgomery Co. schools developing an LGBTQ history class” from WTOP
https://www.euroclio.eu/2019/10/04/visibility-matters-queer-history/ “Visibility Matters: Queer History” from EuroClio
https://www.rainbowhistory.org/ The Rainbow History Project, collecting, preserving, and promoting an active knowledge of the history, arts, and culture of metropolitan Washington DC’s diverse LGBTQ+ communities
https://online.ucpress.edu/tph/article-abstract/41/2/290/90715/Taking-Intersectionality-SeriouslyLearning-from?redirectedFrom=fulltext “Taking Intersectionality Seriously: Learning from LGBTQ Heritage Initiatives for Historic Preservation” from University of California Press 
https://www.nps.gov/articles/lgbtqtheme-nominating.htm “Nominating LGBTQ Places to the National Register of Historic Places and as National Historic Landmarks: An Introduction” from the National Park Service
https://planning.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/op/publication/attachments/Historic%20Context%20Statement%20for%20Washington%27s%20LGBTQ%20Resources_1.pdf Historic Context Statement for Washington’s LGBTQ Resources from the DC Office of Planning
https://wamu.org/story/17/08/11/find-d-c-s-lgbtq-landmarks/ “Where To Find D.C.’s LGBTQ Landmarks” from WAMU
https://www.nps.gov/articles/upload/Statewide_LGBTQHeritageofKentucky-508-compliant.pdf The Kentucky LGBTQ Historic Context Narrative (the first nationwide, MD’s being the second), prepared by University of Louisville

Click here for a complete list of past History Conversations.

History Conferences
Our annual history conference has brought together historians, students, teachers, residents, and lifelong learners since 2007. With such a wide breadth of topics covered, you’re sure to find something that suits your interests. We’ll be rotating out different videos to feature, but you can also find links to all the past videos on our History Conference page.

Featured Video:
“By Hands of Parties Unknown: Remembrance and Reconciliation of Three Lynchings in Montgomery County” 
Speaker: Anthony Cohen

Paths to the Present
Paths to the Present: Montgomery County Stories, a cable television show created by County Cable Montgomery and Montgomery History from 2000-2014, explores the often overlooked history found right in our own backyards. Produced by Emmy-winner Barbara Grunbaum and hosted by Gail Street, Paths to the Present covers a wide variety of topics highlighting this county’s past. You can watch all 86 of the episodes here.