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Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich to Join the Commission on Remembrance and Reconciliation to Unveil Lynching Commemoration Site Improvements on Friday, May 16 in Rockville

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Friday, May 16, 10 a.m.

Descendant of Lynching Perpetrator to Share Reflections During Public Ceremony

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich will join the Montgomery County Commission on Remembrance and Reconciliation at a public recognition ceremony on Friday, May 16, at 10 a.m., marking the completion of the County’s lynching commemoration site in Rockville. The ceremony will feature a keynote address by Dr. Bobbie Legg, a Montgomery County native and descendant of one of the perpetrators of the 1896 lynching of Sidney Randolph.

Dr. Legg’s decision to publicly share her family’s connection to this history offers a rare and poignant perspective on the process of racial reconciliation. Her testimony before the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission last fall deeply moved many. (View Dr. Legg’s testimony on YouTube: 1:33:55–1:45:51.)

The ceremony will also mark the addition of beautification enhancements to the site that the Commission hopes will encourage contemplation and reflections of the events depicted, honoring Sidney Randolph (1896) and John Dorsey-Diggs (1880). This event is part of the County’s efforts to acknowledge and confront its history of racial terror, which also includes the 1880 lynching of George Peck in Poolesville, where there is a separate historical marker.

WHAT:  Ceremony for updated historical markers commemorating victims of racial terror lynchings in Montgomery County

WHEN:  Friday, May 16, 10 a.m.

WHERE: Stella B. Werner Council Office Building, 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville

WHO: 

  • Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich

  • Montgomery County Councilmembers Will Jawando and Andrew Friedson

  • Treava Hopkins-Laboy, chair, Montgomery County Commission on Remembrance and Reconciliation

  • Bobbie Legg, descendant of a Montgomery County lynching perpetrator

  • Former County Councilmembers and Remembrance and Reconciliation Commission Bill Sponsors Craig Rice and Hans Reimer (to be confirmed)

***Speakers and guests will be available for interviews following the ceremony***

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Media Contact: Jennifer Garfinkel 240-962-1506