It Happened Here: Remembering Three Lynchings Exhibit

Our expanded exhibit. Photo by Ross Wells

The exhibit, “IT HAPPENED HERE, REMEMBERING THREE LYNCHINGS” will premiere at the Maggie Nightingale Library in Poolesville September 22–October 3, 2025.

“IT HAPPENED HERE” was developed by the Montgomery County Lynching Memorial Project (MoCoLMP) and reveals the forgotten and nearly-erased history that occurred in our county. With site markers and photographs, this exhibit traces the paths of the three lynchings: Mr. George Peck in 1880, Mr. John Diggs-Dorsey in 1880 and Mr. Sidney Randolph in 1896. Mr. Peck’s story begins in Beallsville, takes us the 2½ miles to Mr. Peck’s January 10, 1880 lynching in Poolesville and ends at his likely burial spot on the outskirts of town.

Each of these three men was denied any semblance of due process and each racially violent death was determined to be “at the hands of parties unknown.” Besides helping to reveal the history of these fatal miscarriages of justice and helping to remember the victims, the exhibit also highlights the process of community engagement, reconciliation, and healing. It includes several photographs from the Poolesville area, including from the Mr. Peck soil collection ceremony November 2019 and the October 2023 ceremony dedicating the marker remembering the lynching of Mr. Peck.

In addition to the exhibit itself two evening events are planned; the first telling the stories of these lynchings and development of the exhibit, and the second, highlighting the descendants, heritage and vibrancy of historic Black Communities surrounding Poolesville.