Montgomery County proclaims Remembrance and Reconciliation Month, memorializes three lynching victims
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Summary
The County Council and County Executive jointly read a proclamation marking November as Remembrance and Reconciliation Month, formally acknowledging three documented racial terror lynchings in the county between 1890 and 1896 and highlighting memorial markers and community work to document and reconcile that history.
Montgomery County formally proclaimed November as Remembrance and Reconciliation Month on Nov. 4, 2025, in a ceremony emphasizing truth-telling, memorialization and ongoing efforts to reconcile the county's history of racial terror.
Council Vice President Will Jawando, who introduced the proclamation, said the county must remember and repair harms and highlighted that three documented lynchings in the county -- John Diggs Dorsey, George Peck and Sydney Randolph -- had occurred in the 1890s.
County Executive Mark Elrich said public erasure of history at the federal level made local remembrance work more urgent. Jim Stowe, director of the Office of Human Rights, described the commission's reconciliation work and thanked partners including the Maryland and Montgomery County Lynching Memorial Project for collecting soil samples and erecting memorial markers.
Jason Green, immediate past chair of the Commission on Remembrance and Reconciliation and a descendant community member, described the commission's work since 2019 to erect markers and hold remembrance programming, and Susan Jenkins, CEO of the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, discussed public exhibitions and a Nov. 22 panel at Montgomery College exploring what reconciliation means to the community.
Why it matters: The county's proclamation acknowledges historical racial violence within Montgomery County, recognizes ongoing memorial work and calls for continued civic engagement and education.
What the proclamation says: The county cited research that identified three victims of racial terror lynchings between 1890 and 1896 and recognized partnerships that have supported research, soil collection and memorial markers. The proclamation also noted Maryland's Emancipation Day recognition and urged residents and institutions to commit to education and reconciliation activities.
Next steps: The county and its partners will continue programming through November, including a panel on Nov. 22 at the Takoma Park/Silver Spring campus of Montgomery College and public exhibitions at the Betty Mae Kramer Gallery.
