On the Cusp of Freedom: Remembering Emancipation in Maryland - In-person

Come celebrate Emancipation Day and Juneteenth at Germantown Library!

Come celebrate Emancipation Day and Juneteenth at Germantown Library!

Historian Anthony Cohen of the Menare Foundation will speak about the importance of freedom in the era of emancipation. Learn how black Montgomery Countians won their liberty through self-liberation and resistance, and discover why their stories of triumph live on through Emancipation Day and Juneteenth celebrations.

Anthony Cohen

Biography 2023

Anthony Cohen is an historian, author, and explorer of the American past. An early purveyor experiential history, Cohen launched his career in 1996, walking two months from Maryland to
Canada, along a route of the Underground Railroad; the secret route to freedom for enslaved Americans. Cohen is the Founder and President of The Menare Foundation, Inc., a national nonprofit organization— “preserving the legacy of the Underground Railroad”—and operates the Button Farm Living History Center, a 40-acre farm depicting 1850s plantation life in Maryland.
He has served as a consultant to the National Parks Conservation Association, Maryland Public Television, NASA among others and trained Oprah Winfrey for her role as Sethe in the 1998 motion picture Beloved. Cohen is a founding member of the Montgomery County Lynching Memorial Project. And he is the co-author of the forthcoming book Great Escapes: Journeys on Maryland’s Underground Railroad to be released in the fall of 2023.

Looking for more fun things to do at MCPL?

Montgomery Times

Take a look at these resources for Oxford African American Studies Center. Don't have a card right now?  No worries!  Find out how to Get a Library Card.

Accommodation Requests

People who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing should request English-language captioning or sign-language interpretation at least five days before the library-sponsored program they plan to attend. Contact the Assistant Facilities and Accessibility Program Manager at 240-777-0002 with all other accommodation requests.

cm 1.1 01/03/2023

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