Upcoming Events

May Lunch and Learn
Broadcasting from the Beginning: Television in Maryland in the 1920s

Thursday, May 14, 2026 at 1:00 pm

Presented by Brian Belanger

Did you know there were television broadcasts in Maryland during the 1920s? In fact, television pioneer C. Francis Jenkins's experimental TV station in Wheaton was one of the first in the world to demonstrate television, exactly 100 years ago. Brian Belanger, curator of the National Capital Radio & Television Museum, will introduce Jenkins and describe the technology he used. The talk will also introduce the National Capital Radio & Television Museum, located in Bowie, Maryland.

Brian Belanger is curator and board member of the National Capital Radio & Television Museum. An electrical engineer, he has a bachelor's degree from Caltech and a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California. Brian started his career at GE's Research and Development Center, and later worked at the Atomic Energy Commission. He joined the staff of the National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology) in 1977, serving as Chief of the Office of Measurement Services, Associate Director of the Center for Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Liaison to the Department of Defense, and Deputy Director of the Advanced Technology Program. Brian has received Bronze and Silver Medals from the Commerce Department and was a Commerce Science and Technology Fellow (1983-84). Brian is one of the founders of the National Capital Radio & Television Museum. As a volunteer he served as its director for a decade, and is currently the museum's curator, a docent, and the editor of the Museum's journal Dials and Channels. He received the Museum's Broadcast History Legend Award in 2019.

June Lunch and Learn
The Role of the Railroad on the Underground Railroad

Thursday, June 11, 2026 at 1:00 pm

Presented by Jonathan Goldman

Join us for a lecture that explores the intimate relationship between the railroad and the Underground Railroad, with a detailed focus on how the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad supported the movement of freedom seekers before the Civil War. Chartered in Baltimore in 1827 as the first commercial railroad in the United States, the B&O connected key cities along routes to freedom, including DC to Baltimore, a critical passage to the north where slavery was outlawed.

Drawing on original research conducted at the B&O Railroad Museum, Chief Curator Jonathan Goldman examines how freedom seekers interacted with railroads and with the B&O's historic Mt. Clare site. This lecture will also highlight the stories of notable freedom seekers, including Henry "Box" Brown and Ellen and William Craft, whose journeys intersected with the B&O.

We will also consider how the language and symbolism of railroading influenced the Underground Railroad itself, from "conductors" and "stations" to the idea of a hidden network of routes to freedom. Through these stories, the program reflects on the railroad's lasting legacy in Black history and the ongoing importance of preserving and interpreting the places where these courageous journeys unfolded.

Jonathan Goldman is Chief Curator at the B&O Railroad Museum, where he has led the museum's curatorial vision since 2019, overseeing exhibitions, archives, collections, historic grounds, and visitor experience. Jonathan led the museum team that documented 27 Freedom Seekers who used the B&O Railroad on the Underground Railroad and the museum's resulting designation as a National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Site. Previously, he served as Curator at the Inter-American Development Bank Cultural Center and taught exhibition design at George Washington University and Towson University. He holds an MA in Exhibition Design from GW, a BFA in Art Direction and Design for Social Impact from ArtCenter College of Design, and a BA in Asian Studies from Occidental College.

July Lunch and Learn
The National Road: From George Washington's Vision to a Museum in Boonsboro

Thursday, July 9, 2026 at 1:00 pm

Presented by Reuben Moss

For nearly as long as our nation has existed, many Maryland residents and interstate travelers have crossed or traveled on and often overlooked the importance of a roadway that is today known as the National Road Scenic Byway.

Reuben Moss, Director of the National Road Museum in Boonsboro will provide an overview of this road, exploring topics which include its history, construction and engineering challenges, the reasoning for the name “National Road,” why it was so important that it was named the epithet “The Road That Built The Nation,” and how it can be said at the same time that it begins in both Baltimore and in Cumberland (and ends in 5 different cities!).

The talk will end with a short history of the National Road Museum, from its concept in the early 2000’s through its grand opening in 2025, and how the railway exhibits in the Trolley Station Museum on the museum grounds relate to this national story.

A lifelong Maryland resident, Reuben Moss is the Volunteer Executive Director of the National Road Museum and has previously served as the Vice President of its parent organization: the National Road Heritage Foundation. He also has previously worked in various capacities with both Rose Hill Manor Park & Museums in Frederick and the Brunswick Heritage Museum. Reuben is also the President and Curator of the Hagerstown and Frederick Railway Historical Society, for which he has been providing well-received historical presentations related to the local trolley system for over a decade. As curator of that organization, he has prepared many temporary artifact exhibitions as well as the redevelopment of the Boonsboro Trolley Station Museum exhibits in 2023.

Joining Reuben will be Richard Keesecker, co-founder and current President of the National Road Heritage Foundation, who has been overseeing the development of the National Road Museum since the organization was founded in 2005.