Montgomery County to Observe Annual Remembrance and Reconciliation Month in November With Activities That Embrace County’s Past and Encourage Healing

For Immediate Release: Monday, October 28, 2024

Montgomery County’s annual Remembrance and Reconciliation Month returns this November 2024, led by the County’s Commission on Remembrance and Reconciliation. This year’s observance will include free community events designed to reflect on the County’s complex history and to foster healing and understanding.

The 2024 observance will highlight the 160th anniversary of Maryland's Emancipation Day. On Nov. 1, 1864, Maryland became one of the first states to abolish slavery in its constitution, predating the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which formally ended slavery nationwide. The month’s events also will shed light on three documented racial terror lynchings in Montgomery County during the late 19th century and honor key milestones in local African American history.

“Remembrance and Reconciliation Month allows us to confront our County’s past and understand how it continues to shape our present,” said Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich. “Our commitment to addressing this difficult history is exemplified by Montgomery County being the only jurisdiction in Maryland with a public Commission on Remembrance and Reconciliation. By fostering open dialogue and learning from our past, we are actively working toward building a more inclusive and united future for all residents.”

The Commission has partnered with various community organizations to plan free events throughout November, including a pre-Remembrance and Reconciliation Month program at Button Farm Living History Center, which already took place and served as the Center’s Annual Maryland Emancipation Day event.

Coming events include:

• Montgomery College, Let’s Talk! An open conversation about the 2024 election. 1 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 29. Hybrid event held online and in-person at ignITe Hub, Montgomery College Campus–Mannakee Building, 900 Hungerford Dr., MK109, Rockville. 
  
  
• Montgomery County Public Schools Central Office Emancipation Day Celebration. 12:30-2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1. The Carver Educational Services Center, Carver Auditorium, 850 Hungerford Drive, Rockville. (Not open to the public.)
  
  
• Sandy Spring Slave Museum Annual Emancipation Day Event. Noon-3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2. Sandy Spring Slave Museum and African Art Gallery, 18524 Brooke Rd., Sandy Spring.
  
  
• Josiah Henson Museum & Park Maryland Emancipation Day Event. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2. Josiah Henson Museum & Park, 11410 Old Georgetown Road, North Bethesda.
  
  
• Webinar: 70 Years of Impact of the Brown v. Board of Education U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on Montgomery County Public Schools. 7-9 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 6. (Registration required.)
  
  
• Proclamation: Montgomery County Council Remembrance and Reconciliation Month Proclamation. 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12, Stella B. Werner County Office Building, 100 Maryland Ave., 3rd Floor Hearing Room, Rockville.
  
  
• Student Webinar: Montgomery County Public Schools Community Changemaker Workshop. (SSL hours are available; registration is required.) 6:30-8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14. 
  
  
• Contemporary Conversations: Storytelling With Mwalimg“DaPhunkee Professor.” 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14, Rockville Memorial Library, 21 Maryland Ave., Rockville. 
  
  
• Webinar: Exclusionary Housing Policies with Dr. Paige Glotzer, a lecture contextualizing Montgomery County within a national history of housing segregation. Organized by Montgomery History & Maryland Lynching Memorial Project. 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14. (Registration required.)
  
  
• Out of Darkness Exhibit. The opening reception for this gallery exhibition is organized by the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. The exhibit explores strength, beauty and resilience through the lens of Black identity, social justice and shared history. 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 19. Betty Mae Kramer Gallery and Music Room, Veterans Plaza, 1 Veterans Place, Silver Spring.
  

For the complete list of events, click here.

The Montgomery County Commission on Remembrance and Reconciliation was created by the County Council in 2019 and operates with support from the Office of Human Rights. Comprised of community leaders, the Commission collaborates with the Equal Justice Initiative, the Maryland Memorial Lynching Project, the Montgomery County Lynching Memorial Project and other local organizations to deepen public understanding of the County's history of racial terror and promote reconciliation and healing within the community.

As part of this mission, the Commission invites residents, organizations and businesses to participate in November’s events and create their own initiatives to acknowledge past injustices, foster unity and address ongoing racism and discrimination.

“During Remembrance and Reconciliation Month, we call on our County’s residents to come together, listen with empathy, share their stories with courage and commit to a future where everyone is valued,” said Jason Green, chair of the Montgomery County Commission on Remembrance and Reconciliation. “Only through reflection and action can we hope to repair the divisions of the past and move forward in solidarity.”

#  #  #

Release ID: 24-488
Media Contact: Jennifer Garfinkel 240-962-1506
Categories: Consumer, Education