Peerless Rockville marks Women’s History Month in March with a presentation on remarkable Rockville women, takes a closer look at Rockville’s role in the Underground Railroad and highlights the flight to freedom of five boys sold into slavery.
Great Escapes: Journeys on Maryland’s Underground Railroad • 6 p.m. Friday, March 20, Red Brick Courthouse, 29 Courthouse Square
Historian Anthony Cohen presents a preview of the upcoming book “Great Escapes: Journeys on Maryland’s Underground Railroad.” A project of The Menare Foundation, Inc. and Heritage Montgomery, the book explores the people, places and social forces that created a pathway to freedom, forged by self-emancipating slaves and their allies from the 1830s to the brink of the Civil War. A Q&A session will follow.
Lunch & Learn: Rockville Women Who Dared • Noon, Wednesday, March 25, Red Brick Courthouse, 29 Courthouse Square
Ann Maria Weems, Frieda Fromm-Reichmann and Vivian Simpson are just a few of the remarkable women in Rockville history. In this Women’s History Month presentation, Mary van Balgooy, executive director of the Society of Women Geographers and former Peerless Rockville executive director, will highlight the lives and achievements of Rockville women of different eras and backgrounds, detailing how the determination of these women to improve their lives led them to step out of women’s traditional roles and even risk their lives. Bring a lunch. Seating is limited. Contact Peerless Rockville at 301-762-0096 or [email protected] to reserve a seat.
Stolen: The Story of Free African Americans Kidnapped into Slavery • 2-3:30 p.m., Sunday, March 29, Rockville Memorial Library, 21 Maryland Ave. in Rockville Town Square
Richard Bell, an associate professor of history at the University of Maryland, College Park, will present his book “Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped Into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home,” the true story of five free black boys who – lured onto a ship with the promise of food and pay, then smuggled from Philadelphia to the Deep South – were able to escape and initiate a manhunt to bring their captors to justice. (Note: This event was originally advertised for February.) Cosponsored by Friends of the Library, Rockville Memorial Chapter. Admission is free. For tickets and more information, visit Peerless Rockville Historic Preservation, Ltd. on Facebook or bit.ly/PeerlessStolen.
“Great Escapes” and “Stolen” are presented in association with Peerless Rockville’s new exhibit, “Forging Freedom: Endurance, Escape, and Rockville’s Underground Railroad,” which features the brave fugitives who fled slavery in Rockville, the abolitionist network that helped and the endurance of the enslaved community. The exhibit is open 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday through Friday, in the historic courthouse.