WASHINGTON — Celebrate Maryland Emancipation Day all weekend at historic sites and parks across Montgomery County.
Montgomery Parks is hosting a weekend-long celebration for Maryland’s Emancipation Day. The events began Friday, Nov. 3 and will end Sunday, Nov. 5.
Festivities on Sunday begin at 10 a.m. with a 90-minute guided hike at Woodlawn Manor Cultural Park along the Underground Railroad trail. Following the hike, there will be an open house at the Woodlawn Museum’s stone barn exhibits from noon until 4 p.m.
At Josiah Henson Park, there will be another open house with 30-minute tours. Those interested can meet archaeologists at dig sites or enjoy a showing of the PBS Time Team America documentary, “The Search for Josiah Henson.”
At Harper Cabin in the Brookside Nature Center, tours and demonstrations will follow how post-emancipation African-American families lived in Montgomery County from 1 to 5 p.m. There will also be “hands-on activities, period games, crafts, and more,” according to the Montgomery Parks website.
The Button Farm Living History Center will also be hosting an open house, where interested parties can see a depiction of “19th-century plantation life and the heroic story of the Underground Railroad,” according to Montgomery Parks. There will also be self-guided tours of the farm, animals and gardens, as well as a scavenger hunt, bonfire, drinks and “living history activities.”
Montgomery Parks began Maryland Emancipation Day festivities with a “special” sold-out night hike on the Underground Railroad trail Friday night.
On Saturday, celebrations began with the same 90-minute hike at 10 a.m. Many of the events were similar to Sunday’s festivities, except for “living history demonstrations” and a puppet show at the Oakley Cabin African American Museum & Park between noon to 4 p.m., and a special presentation at the Sandy Spring Slave Museum & African Art Gallery from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
To see a map of the locations or to learn more, visit the Montgomery Parks website.