Montgomery County will join in the celebration of “Maryland Emancipation Day” on Saturday, Nov. 2, with several special events sponsored by Montgomery Parks.
The State of Maryland celebrates Emancipation Day on Nov. 1. On that day in 1864, a referendum was passed by a very narrow margin approving a new constitution for Maryland that included freeing Maryland’s enslaved. In Southern Maryland, 33,295 enslaved persons were “free at last.” This included Blacks across the four counties in Southern Maryland who made up more than 60 percent of the population.
At the start of the Civil War, Maryland was designated as a “free state” because Maryland did not secede from the Union with the rest of the Confederacy. President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, effective Jan. 1, 1863, only applied to the seceding states. Therefore, Maryland was able to continue the practice of enslavement.
While enslavement continued in Maryland, it was a time of turmoil for enslavers and the enslaved. Washington, D.C., freed its enslaved in April 1862. During this time, Maryland's enslaved had several paths to freedom. Maryland’s enslaved people fled in significant numbers to freedom in Washington. Federal troops were stationed in Maryland to protect the Capitol and the enslaved fled to those units.
Through the Emancipation Proclamation, Blacks could enroll in the Union armed forces starting in January 1863. Several regiments of Black troops were formed in Maryland, with a major training center in Southern Maryland at Camp Stanton in Benedict that opened in October 1863. Overall, 8,700 African Americans in Maryland left their owners or enrolled as free Blacks to fight for the Union.
On Nov. 2, Montgomery County’s celebration of Maryland Emancipation Day will include free admission to Woodlawn Manor Cultural Park, to taking a tour through Prince George's Sankofa Mobile Museum and hearing from local author Treava Hopkins-Laboy at Josiah Henson Museum and Park. There also will be an opportunity to work with the Montgomery Parks Archaeology Team at Oakley Cabin African American Museum and Park.
Details on the Montgomery County events:
- Woodlawn Manor Cultural Park. Saturday, Nov. 2. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. All ages. Free to the cultural park. Woodlawn Manor Cultural Park.
- Josiah Henson Museum and Park. Saturday, Nov. 2. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. All ages. Free, thanks to sponsorship by Montgomery County Commission on Remembrance and Reconciliation. Josiah Henson Museum and Park.
- Oakley Cabin. Saturday, Nov. 2. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. All ages. Free. Meet the Montgomery Parks Archaeology Team. Oakley Cabin African American Museum and Park.
- Harper Cabin. Sunday, Nov. 3. 1-4 p.m. All ages. Free. Brookside Nature Center.
