On Sunday, March 3, over 65 people gathered to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the Montgomery County Lynching Memorial Project’s (MoCoLMP’s) founding. The celebration included catered refreshments, cookies provided by our members, and talented performances by the Montgomery College Jazztet, Alvin Trask, director. We were pleased to welcome several county council members, members of local historic Black communities, new and longtime MoCoLMP volunteers, and new members.
Keynote speaker, Will Jawando, Montgomery County Council member, a long-time supporter and advocate for MoCoLMP, shared personal reflections and spoke about the importance of the truth and truth-telling. Will Schwarz, founder and director of the Maryland Lynching Project, also offered thoughts about MoCOLMP and its past and present.
Founding members, Tony Cohen, Alexa Fraser, and Derrick C. Tabor participated in the program: Tony served as master of ceremonies; Alexa highlighted MoCoLMP accomplishments and activities over the past 5 years; and long-time volunteer and Steering Committee member Holly Syrrakos thanked the attendees for their generous support of time and financial resources and made a case for continuing to donate to MoCoLMP.
Derrick engaged the audience by asking them to answer the question: Where do we go from here? A celebration highlight was the activity where attendees rated the priorities of possible future projects. Participants were enthusiastic about topics such as mapping plantation sites, collecting oral histories from historic Black communities, continuing research on other lynchings, and organizing future tours and events.
We were delighted by the response -- as we move forward, look for more information on how to get involved.
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