Catoctin Furnace and its hallowed African American cemetery are mentioned in The New Yorker this week. Jill Lepore’s article, “Unearthing Black History,” explores conflicted views surrounding efforts to rescue African American remains. This is an important and timely read. Thank you to Jill and The New Yorker staff for exploring this subject. We will endeavor to do the right thing at Catoctin Furnace, searching for the descendant community while expanding our collective kinship.

Click here to read: “When Black History Is Unearthed, Who Gets to Speak for the Dead?”

Read this article, Jeff Holland: On Catoctin visit, a walk into rich history | COMMENTARY

Our recent unveiling, “Forged in Iron and Bone: Unveiling Faces of the Enslaved” was profiled in the Frederick News Post on June 25, 2021.  Read it here.

On Juneteenth 2020, and in observance of Emancipation Day, the Maryland Ensemble Theatre (MET) presented a live reading of Catoctin SlaveSpeak by Elayne Bond Hyman.  Catoctin SlaveSpeak is a collection of narrative poems in the voices of enslaved Africans, as well as their enslaved descendants, who were imported to work at the Catoctin Iron Furnace in Thurmont, MD.   

Cast:
Elayne Hyman
Rona Mensah
Ray Hatch
Kimberly (Zoe) Donahue-Rick
Richard Johnson
Zachary Leo Harris
Julie Herber
Tad Janes

To view this performance, click here.

The CHFS , the Green-walled Garden Club and our partners at the Silver Oak Academy are featured in the summer edition of the National Gardener Magazine sponsored by the National Garden Club.  Click here, and read pages 23-26.

Check out a new podcast about the CFHS Historic Building Trades Program.  It’s on our In The News page!

Please take a look at our new map of the village of Catoctin Furnace.