The life of Lily Stone, a prominent Montgomery County socialite whose remarkable life extended from the Civil War through the Cold War, will be the subject of a free online presentation of Montgomery History at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 12. The presentation will be led by Judith Welles, who wrote the book, “Lily Stone—A Daring Woman.”In her book, Ms. Welles tells the story of the woman who was encouraged to join the Daughters of the American Revolution organization by Clara Barton. Ms. Stone went on to organize the first literary and arts clubs in her farming community, design the first flag for Montgomery County and founded the Montgomery County Historical Society.
At the stage of life when most people retire, the widowed Mrs. Stone entered an industry dominated by men. In 1924, she founded Stoneyhurst Quarry, which yielded distinctive stone used in building the National Cathedral, the National Zoo and hundreds of other buildings and homes around the nation’s capital.
Ms. Stone’s papers and letters, documented by author Welles, describe the divided loyalties of County residents living close to the Potomac River during the Civil War. They also detail her son’s experience as a soldier in World War I and tell how German POWs came to work at her quarry during World War II. Through her accomplishments in business and her passion for preserving history, Lilly Stone made history herself.
Ms. Welles has authored other books that focus on the local area. A former journalist, she was a reporter for newspapers in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and in Arlington, Va. and a worklife editor for online media in Washington, D.C. She is now a columnist and blogger for a technology magazine. She also was a media relations manager and speechwriter for U.S. Cabinet members and several Federal agencies before returning to manage communications at PriceWaterhouseCoopers and IBM. She has volunteered at the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park and served on the board of the C&O Canal Trust.
To view the presentation online, register at Webinar Registration - Zoom.
