On July 15, co-leaders of MoCoLMP’s projects and committees got together over Zoom to update each other on their progress. Among the highlights:
Florence Jewell reported that she and co-lead Alicia Wilson of the Mapping Plantations and Slavery Project have been delving into what’s already known about farms and plantations where people were enslaved. They did a research trip to Montgomery History to speak with archivist Sarah Hedlund. They plan to identify gaps in the record and to narrow the timeframe they will focus on.
Also getting help from Montgomery History is the Historic Black Communities (HBC) Project, co-led by Paulette Dawes and Paul Holmes. They are considering focusing on the period 1860-80s, when most of the communities were getting established. There were around 80 HBCs by 1880 in Montgomery County. Today, the residents of many of them have dispersed and much of their history has been lost. This project will attempt to record and map both the better-known and the lesser-known communities.
The Oral History Project is doing background research on how to conduct and record interviews, and about our local historic Black communities. Paulette Dawes and Neile Whitney visited Montgomery History recently to learn more about what resources are available there, and will be going for a follow-up visit in August.
Representing the Researching Racial Violence Project were co-leads Jim Voorhees and Bobbie Legg. Jim visited the Kensington archives and has perused oral history transcripts from Montgomery History. One of the intriguing things he’s learned so far: a near-lynching in Rockville in 1920 was averted by the intervention of members of the Black community.
The Racial Covenants Project is making plans for a November 14 webinar, followed by an in-person event on how to identify and remove racial covenants in property deeds.
Lesley Younge and Caitlin Atkins, co-leads of the Education Committee, will once again be presenting at the National Council of Teachers of English, among other efforts to teach the teachers about incorporating painful history into school curricula.
MoCoLMP is planning another project meeting in September—stay tuned! If you’d like to get involved in any of these projects, please contact us and we’ll connect you with the right people.
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