Montgomery County leaders opened the sixth annual Remembrance and Reconciliation Month with a proclamation Tuesday that honors three men lynched in the county in the 1890s and calls on residents to take part in acts of remembrance and reconciliation each November. Councilmembers Shebra Evans, Will Jawando and Laurie-Anne Sayles and County Executive Marc Elrich presented it on Nov. 10.
The Proclamation
The proclamation designates November as Remembrance and Reconciliation Month, commemorating Maryland’s Emancipation Day and honoring African-American communities, including the legacy of more than 80 historic Black communities in the county. It recognizes George Peck, John Diggs-Dorsey and Sidney Randolph as the three known victims of racial terror lynchings in Montgomery County between 1890 and 1896.
The text also credits the county’s Commission on Remembrance and Reconciliation for its partnerships since 2019 with the Arts and Humanities Council, Montgomery County Public Schools, Montgomery History and the Montgomery County Lynching Memorial Project. Their work includes collecting soil samples and placing markers in the men’s memory.
The observance began in 2019. The commission was formed that January through a resolution from then-Councilmembers Hans Riemer, Will Jawando and Craig Rice, according to the county’s Office of Human Rights. Evans and Jawando both described the month as their last as members of the Council. The transcript of the event describes Jawando as the county executive-elect.
Remembering Three Men
Jawando said markers honor Randolph and Diggs-Dorsey, who were taken from the former Rockville courthouse and lynched nearby, and that a memorial to Peck stands in Poolesville. He said students in county schools now learn about these men and about Josiah Henson, a formerly enslaved man whose story is part of local history. Reconciliation, he said, requires work on housing injustice, a high-quality education for every student and protection for immigrant communities.
James Stowe, director of the county’s Office of Human Rights, said the three men were taken from law enforcement custody. He urged residents to remember, protect and respect one another.
Speakers on Education and Equity
Sayles said the curriculum on this history is now standardized for kindergarten through 12th grade. She thanked the commission, the Office of Human Rights and the lynching memorial project, and noted the Montgomery County History Conference held over the weekend and the Maryland Emancipation Day kickoff on Nov. 1.
Elrich said the work must go beyond remembrance and reconciliation to correcting disparities. He said academic performance and health and social data still show the Black community near the bottom, and that housing and home ownership are not distributed equally.
Events This Month
Tamara Williams, chair of the Commission on Remembrance and Reconciliation, said residents need safe spaces for these conversations. She announced a virtual webinar with Montgomery County Public Schools on Thursday, Nov. 12, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. about the displacement of African Americans in the county, and a second webinar on Nov. 30 about acts of reconciliation. She directed residents to the county website, the Office of Human Rights and the commission’s page for the full schedule.
What’s Next
The Nov. 12 webinar is the next scheduled event, followed by the Nov. 30 session. Residents can find the full month’s schedule through the county’s Office of Human Rights, and the commission says its work continues throughout the year.
