Father's Day Weekend - Dads' Tours 1/2 off!
2026-06-19 - 2026-06-21 | Historic Sotterley, 44300 Sotterley Lane, Hollywood, MD, 20636, United States
June 19-21, 2026 – Bring your history-loving Dad to Historic Sotterley to celebrate Father’s Day with a guided tour! To make the day extra special, dads get their tours for half off. Tickets can be purchased at Sotterley’s Visitor Center on the day of the tour. Other tour participants will need to buy their tickets at normal price.
Tours will be offered on Friday & Saturday at 10:30 am, 12:30 pm, and 2:00 pm and on Sunday at 12:30 pm and 2:00 pm. For more information about our hours and pricing, check our visit page.
Historic Sotterley’s guided tours allow visitors an intimate perspective of the lives and cultures of those that owned, lived, and worked in the historic Manor House, enslaved or free, over three centuries of American history. As Father’s Day shares a weekend with Juneteenth this year, this weekend’s tours will have an additional focus on the Pursuit of Freedom and how freedom evolved through the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, the Civil War, and post-Emancipation into the 20th century.
The tour is on the ground floor spaces and is approximately 45-60 minutes in length. The 18th Century Manor House doorways may not accommodate all wheelchairs or walkers in some rooms of the house. Please call in advance for full access details.
After the tour, Sotterley offers a museum gift shop, beautiful trails, expansive gardens, access to a quiet creek, and additional exhibits to explore and learn from. Tour attendees are welcome to bring a picnic and enjoy all that the grounds have to offer with their dad. Historic Sotterley is a “Leave No Trace” site, so please be prepared to pack out any trash and leftover food when you leave.

Threads of Freedom: Honoring Edith Younger Edmunds at 100
2026-06-19 15:30 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | MD
June 19, 2026 – In celebration of Juneteenth, Historic Sotterley is proud to present “Threads of Freedom: Honoring Edith Younger Edmunds at 100,” a powerful and intergenerational program rooted in the theme of threads—those that bind history, memory, resilience, and community across generations.

45-minute presentation from Edith Younger Edmunds
Conversational panel with Sotterley descendants
Community engagement and reflection
Live music with Casual Groove Band
Time: 3:30 – 7:00 pm
Location: Historic Sotterley, 44300 Sotterley Lane, Hollywood MD

Registration here!
At the heart of this year’s program is the understanding that freedom is not a single moment, but a continuous weaving of stories, struggles, and triumphs. The “threads” in this gathering represent the hands that labored, the voices that endured, and the traditions that survived—often carried forward in ways both seen and unseen.
Traveling from Halifax County, Virginia, Edith Younger Edmunds—now 100 years old—has been creating Underground Railroad quilts since the age of seven. Her quilts embody both artistry and ancestral knowledge, reflecting a long-held belief that patterns and symbols were used to communicate messages of movement, safety, and hope along the Underground Railroad. Whether as coded maps or as powerful expressions of cultural memory, these quilts stand as enduring symbols of ingenuity, resistance, and the human longing for freedom.
Through Mrs. Edmunds’ life and work, “Threads of Freedom” becomes more than a title—it becomes a living narrative. Each stitch represents a story. Each pattern reflects a journey. Each quilt becomes a bridge between past and present, reminding us that history is not distant—it is carried forward through people, practice, and purpose.
This special program invites the community to gather in reflection and celebration as Mrs. Edmunds shares her story, her craft, and the cultural significance of quilting as both expression and resistance. Her 45-minute presentation will be followed by time for community engagement, allowing participants to connect more deeply with the stories and meanings woven into her work.
Following Mrs. Edmunds presentation, a panel of Sotterley descendants will lead a discussion titled “Threads That Continue: Descendant Voices on Memory, Place, and Legacy,” exploring their relationship with Sotterley and the legacy of their ancestors that connect to them to the site. The panel will consist of Gerard Barber, Katherine Humphries, Nocola Williams, and Tre’ Lancaster, each representing different eras and aspects of Sotterley’s history, and different journeys to exploring their stories.
The evening will continue in celebration with live music by Casual Groove, whose vibrant blend of R&B, jazz, funk, and soul creates a joyful atmosphere of unity—honoring not only the history of emancipation, but the ongoing expression of freedom through music, culture, and community connection.
Historic Sotterley, a site committed to telling a full and honest history, recognizes that Juneteenth is both a commemoration and a call—to remember, to honor, and to continue the work of truth-telling. By centering descendant voices and living traditions, Sotterley affirms that the threads of freedom are still being woven today.
Mrs. Edmunds’ presence offers a rare and profound opportunity to witness history through the hands of someone who has carried it for a century—an invitation to reflect on what we inherit, what we preserve, and what we pass forward.

America's 250th Presentation: George Plater III with Dave Brown
2026-06-25 19:00 - 20:30 | Historic Sotterley, 44300 Sotterley Lane, Hollywood, MD, 20636, United States
June 25, 2026 – Join us for a special presentation in honor of America’s and Maryland’s 250th as historian and author Dave Brown explores the life and legacy of George Plater III, one of Maryland’s highly involved and influential early leaders. Through Dave’s research, this program illuminates Plater’s role in shaping the state and the nation during its formative years, while connecting his impact to the broader, complex history preserved at Historic Sotterley.
Port of Leonardtown Winery will be joining us for this event to bring you outstanding local wines to taste. Located in the heart of Leonardtown, Port of Leonardtown Winery is a community-driven winery working with a cooperative of 12 member vineyards to create high-quality, Southern Maryland-made wine. Since their start in 2010, they’ve won multiple best-in-show awards for their incredible wine varieties.

Participation in this event is free, but you will need to purchase a wine-tasting ticket to enjoy Port of Leonardtown Winery’s tastings during the event. Wine-tasting tickets are $20 and participants must be 21 or over.
All participants are welcome to join us to meet the speaker at the pre-reception at 6:30 pm with light refreshments.
Register to Attend In-Person
Register to Attend Virtually
Buy a Ticket for the Wine Tasting!

Dave Brown is a retired diplomat and university educator. Since 2000, he has volunteered as a docent at Sotterley and once served on its Board of Trustees. He has written books and articles related to Sotterley including Sotterley: Its People and Their Worlds (2010), George Plater of Sotterley (2014) and The Barber Family: From Slavery, Through Segregation and The Civil Rights Movement (2023) co-authored with Donald Barber, and The Kane Family: Slavery to Freedom at Sotterley (2025).

Themed Tours - Descendants of Sotterley
2026-06-26 - 2026-06-28 | Historic Sotterley, 44300 Sotterley Lane, Hollywood, MD, 20636, United States
June 26-28, 2026 – In honor of Descendants Day on June 28th, Historic Sotterley is offering its guided tours with additional notes on the role of descendants in preserving Sotterley and its stories.
Tours will be offered on Friday & Saturday at 10:30 am, 12:30 pm, and 2:00 pm and on Sunday at 12:30 pm and 2:00 pm. For more information about our hours and pricing, check our visit page.
Historic Sotterley’s guided tours allow visitors an intimate perspective of the lives and cultures of those that owned, lived, and labored on the site, enslaved or free, over three centuries of American history. Tours this weekend will have an extra focus on how descendants of those that lived and labored here have shaped our interpretation of Sotterley’s history and the key families that have shaped Historic Sotterley as it is today.
The tour is on the ground floor and is approximately 45 minutes in length. The 18th Century Manor House doorways may not accommodate all wheelchairs or walkers in some rooms of the house. Please call in advance for full access details.
After the tour, Sotterley offers a Visitor Experience Center with a museum shop, beautiful trails, expansive gardens, access to a quiet creek, and additional exhibits to explore and learn from. During this weekend, the site will also be hosting the “Revolutionary Maryland: Freedom of the Press Then and Now” traveling exhibit from Maryland Humanities in the Visitor Experience Center, and a Colonial Marines temporary exhibit spread throughout the site. Historic Sotterley is a “Leave No Trace” site, so please be prepared to pack out any trash and leftover food when you leave.

Sotterley Presents: People & Perspectives with John Garrison Marks
2026-07-01 19:00 - 20:30 | Historic Sotterley, 44300 Sotterley Lane, Hollywood, MD, 20636, United States
July 1, 2026 – How should we remember George Washington’s involvement in slavery? In this lecture, historian John Garrison Marks will share how Americans have argued over this questions for nearly 250 years. More than any other “Founding Father,” Washington’s ties to slavery have vexed us. He enslaved more people than any of his fellow Founders, yet he was the only one of them to emancipate the people he held in bondage. Since his death, Americans have grappled with this contradiction, shaping and re-shaping our collective memory of Washington and slavery—along with our understanding of the nation.
Drawing on research from his new book, Marks traces how politicians, abolitionists, educators, activists, Washington’s former slaves and their descendants, and others have remembered, forgotten, and manipulated slavery’s place in Washington’s story, wielding it in the political and cultural fights of their time. He reveals how Americans’ conflicts over our collective memory of the past have always been part of a much broader struggle to define the nation—and ourselves.

This is a FREE hybrid event. Registration is required.
All participants are welcome to join us to meet the speaker at the pre-reception at 6:30 pm with light refreshments.

Register to Attend In-Person
Register to Attend Virtually

John Garrison Marks is a historian and writer who explores history, museums, and the ways Americans engage with the past. He is the author or editor of three books, and his work has appeared in The Atlantic, Washington Post, TIME, Smithsonian Magazine, and elsewhere. His latest book, Thy Will Be Done: George Washington’s Legacy of Slavery and the Fight for American Memory (2026), explores how generations of Americans have thought, and fought, about slavery’s place in George Washington’s legacy over the past 250 years. Marks also serves as a senior staff member for the American Association for State and Local History, where he leads research, leadership development, and special projects, including nine years of thinking, writing, and speaking about the U.S. Semiquincentennial. He earned a Ph.D. in history from Rice University.

Themed Tours - Sotterley During the Revolution
2026-07-03 - 2026-07-05 | Historic Sotterley, 44300 Sotterley Lane, Hollywood, MD, 20636, United States
July 3-5, 2026 – In honor of Independence Day and America’s 250th, Historic Sotterley is offering its guided tours with additional notes on Sotterley’s role in shaping America’s history and the start of our nation through an examination of the life of Sotterley’s George Plater III and those who lived and labored at Sotterley during the Revolution.
Tours will be offered on Friday & Saturday at 10:30 am, 12:30 pm, and 2:00 pm and on Sunday at 12:30 pm and 2:00 pm. For more information about our hours and pricing, check our visit page.
Historic Sotterley’s guided tours allow visitors an intimate perspective of the lives and cultures of those that owned, lived, and labored on the site, enslaved or free, over three centuries of American history. Tours this weekend will have an extra focus on the ways Sotterley, with its prime location along the Patuxent River and trade routes, played a role in early American history.
The tour is on the ground floor and is approximately 45 minutes in length. The 18th Century Manor House doorways may not accommodate all wheelchairs or walkers in some rooms of the house. Please call in advance for full access details.
After the tour, Sotterley offers a Visitor Experience Center with a museum shop, beautiful trails, expansive gardens, access to a quiet creek, and additional exhibits to explore and learn from. Historic Sotterley is a “Leave No Trace” site, so please be prepared to pack out any trash and leftover food when you leave.

Second Saturday Family Nights
2026-07-11 17:00 - 21:00 | Historic Sotterley, 44300 Sotterley Lane, Hollywood, MD, 20636, United States
July 11, 2026 – Second Saturday Family Nights at Historic Sotterley brings the perfect blend of summer fun, local flavor, and down‑home charm. Enjoy delicious eats from Bailey’s Food Truck, buy fresh local finds at the farmer’s market, and let the kids dive into farm games and wagon rides around Sotterley’s beautiful grounds. Starting at 6:00, jam out to a fun mix of 50s and classic rock with local band Mixed Blend. Join us for an easygoing, family‑friendly evening that celebrates community, good food, and great music all in one unforgettable place.
Date: June 13, 2026
Time: 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Live Music: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Price: $10 per car
Location: 44300 Sotterley Lane, Hollywood, MD 20636
Buy tickets in advance (ticket sales coming soon)
or pay at the door!
Attendees are welcome to bring blankets and chairs to spread out and enjoy the event. No outside food or drink will be permitted.
Second Saturday Family Nights at Historic Sotterley will continue throughout 2026 with a new band each event. Stay tuned for more announcements!

1776 Tea Party
2026-07-18 14:00 - 16:00 | Historic Sotterley, 44300 Sotterley Lane, Hollywood, MD, 20636, United States
July 18, 2026 – Celebrate America’s 250th with an 1776 Tea Party at Historic Sotterley! The afternoon will include a special presentation on George Washington’s Spies by Historic Sotterley’s Interpretive Programs Manager, Katherine Humphries. Also called the Culper Spy Ring, Washington’s spies were a civilian intelligence network that provided critical information to help in the American Revolution. Learn about their complex network and pioneering tactics while enjoying a tea with:

Tea faire, including Sally Lunn Cake (George Washington’s favorite)
Two different teas
Lemonade
Door Prizes

The Tea will take place in our beautifully renovated Historic Barn event space. It is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy an elevated Saturday afternoon at Historic Sotterley, and we encourage attendees to arrive early to enjoy our exhibits or Colonial Revival gardens. A free tour is included in your ticket price which you can take advantage of at our 10:30 am or 12:30 pm tour times. Just check in with your name at the Visitor Experience Center prior to your desired tour time.
Date: July 18th, 2026
Time: 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Price: $50 | $35 for students | $25 for children under 16
Location: 44300 Sotterley Lane, Hollywood, MD 20636
Purchase tickets here!

SOMD Live
2026-07-25 16:00 - 21:30 | Historic Sotterley, 44300 Sotterley Lane, Hollywood, MD, 20636, United States
SATURDAY. JULY 25 at HISTORIC SOTTERLEY
Rain or Shine. Local artists. Variety of sounds.
Free parking. Vendors and food trucks.
For more info Go To: www.SoMDLive.com

Second Saturday Family Nights
2026-08-08 17:00 - 21:00 | Historic Sotterley, 44300 Sotterley Lane, Hollywood, MD, 20636, United States
August 8, 2026 – Second Saturday Family Nights at Historic Sotterley brings the perfect blend of summer fun, local flavor, and down‑home charm. Enjoy delicious eats from Bailey’s Food Truck, buy fresh local finds at the farmer’s market, and let the kids dive into farm games and wagon rides around Sotterley’s beautiful grounds. Starting at 6:00, kick back to the lively mix of country, western swing, California surf, and southern soul music from the Honky Tonk Cassanovas. Join us for an easygoing, family‑friendly evening that celebrates community, good food, and great music all in one unforgettable place.
Date: August 8, 2026
Time: 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Live Music: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Price: $10 per car
Location: 44300 Sotterley Lane, Hollywood, MD 20636
Buy tickets in advance (ticket sales coming soon)
or pay at the door!
Attendees are welcome to bring blankets and chairs to spread out and enjoy the event. No outside food or drink will be permitted.
Second Saturday Family Nights at Historic Sotterley will continue throughout 2026 with a new band each event. Stay tuned for more announcements!

Sotterley Presents: People & Perspectives with Richard Bell
2026-09-09 19:00 - 20:30 | Historic Sotterley, 44300 Sotterley Lane, Hollywood, MD, 20636, United States
September 9, 2026 – An electrifying global history of a not-so local war.
When we think of the American Revolution, we often picture a parochial drama: thirteen colonies squaring off against the British Crown in a spirited bid for independence. But this version of the story is only half the truth—and perhaps not even the most interesting half. In this riveting program, historian and author Richard Bell invites audiences to rediscover the Revolution as a world war that unleashed chaos, opportunity, and transformation across six continents. From the sugar fields of the Caribbean to the court of the King of Mysore, from refugee camps on the Canadian frontier to political uprisings in Sierra Leone and Peru, the war that gave birth to the United States was never simply America’s own. It was a seismic global event that redrew maps, toppled hierarchies, catalyzed migration, and accelerated new movements for liberty—and for empire.
In this program, Bell traces the far-flung reverberations of the war through the lives of the people it displaced, empowered, or destroyed. Participants will encounter a Native matriarch struggling to preserve a transatlantic military alliance, a Prussian officer reinventing himself in a foreign army, and a Boston schoolteacher shipwrecked thousands of miles from home. Along the way, Bell explores how the Revolution stirred a transoceanic refugee crisis, ignited antislavery activism, and inspired uprisings from Ireland to India. The program offers a bold new framework for understanding the Revolutionary War not as a tidy founding moment but as a sprawling, high-stakes struggle fought on land and sea, shaped by commerce, diplomacy, propaganda, and contingency. This is the American Revolution as you’ve never seen it before: complex, global, and astonishingly relevant to the modern world.

This is a FREE hybrid event. Registration is required.
All participants are welcome to join us to meet the speaker at the pre-reception at 6:30 pm with light refreshments.

Register to Attend In-Person
Register to Attend Virtually

Richard Bell is Professor of History at the University of Maryland. He is the author of the book Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and their Astonishing Odyssey Home which was a finalist for the George Washington Prize and the Harriet Tubman Prize. He has held major research fellowships at Yale, Cambridge, and the Library of Congress and is the recipient of the National Endowment of the Humanities Public Scholar award and the Andrew Carnegie Fellowship. His new book, The American Revolution and the Fate of the World, published by Penguin, recently won the Journal of the American Revolution Book of the Year Award. He maintains a list of upcoming events at Richard-Bell.com.

Second Saturday Family Nights
2026-09-12 17:00 - 21:00 | Historic Sotterley, 44300 Sotterley Lane, Hollywood, MD, 20636, United States
September 12, 2026 – Second Saturday Family Nights at Historic Sotterley brings the perfect blend of summer fun, local flavor, and down‑home charm. Enjoy delicious eats from Bailey’s Food Truck, buy fresh local finds at the farmer’s market, and let the kids dive into farm games and wagon rides around Sotterley’s beautiful grounds. Starting at 6:00, get dancing to a blend of rock, country, and bluegrass favorites from Southern Maryland locals The Mudcats. Join us for an easygoing, family‑friendly evening that celebrates community, good food, and great music all in one unforgettable place.
Date: September 12, 2026
Time: 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Live Music: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Price: $10 per car
Location: 44300 Sotterley Lane, Hollywood, MD 20636
Buy tickets in advance (ticket sales coming soon)
or pay at the door!
Attendees are welcome to bring blankets and chairs to spread out and enjoy the event. No outside food or drink will be permitted.
Second Saturday Family Nights at Historic Sotterley will continue throughout 2026 with a new band each event. Stay tuned for more announcements!

Sotterley Presents: People & Perspectives with Marc Schindler
2026-10-07 19:00 - 20:30 | Virtual
October 7, 2026 – Details coming soon

This is a FREE virtual event. Registration is required.

Registration coming soon

Marc Schindler has spent more than 35 years advancing the well‑being of young people through leadership roles in youth justice, nonprofit management, advocacy, and philanthropy. His career includes serving as a public defender, a national civil rights attorney, Executive Director of the Justice Policy Institute, and a partner at Venture Philanthropy Partners. He has also taught at George Washington University and American University and authored more than two dozen research publications. Most recently, he served as Assistant Secretary and Chief of Staff for the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, helping to steer the state’s youth justice system toward a more developmental, community‑centered model.
At the Georgetown Center for Youth Justice, Schindler is a Research Professor of the Practice and Senior Fellow and leads Forgotten Children, a new national initiative dedicated to restoring dignity to incarcerated youth buried in unmarked graves, while also supporting programs such as the Public Information Officers Learning Collaborative and the Transforming Juvenile Probation Certificate Program. Earlier in his career, he played a key role in reforming Washington, DC’s youth justice system as Interim Director, Chief of Staff, and General Counsel of DYRS. A Yale‑educated political scientist with a law degree from the University of Maryland, Marc lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and is the proud father of two college‑aged children.

Second Saturday Family Nights
2026-10-10 17:00 - 21:00 | Historic Sotterley, 44300 Sotterley Lane, Hollywood, MD, 20636, United States
October 10, 2026 – Second Saturday Family Nights at Historic Sotterley brings the perfect blend of summer fun, local flavor, and down‑home charm. Enjoy delicious eats from Bailey’s Food Truck, buy fresh local finds at the farmer’s market, and let the kids dive into farm games and wagon rides around Sotterley’s beautiful grounds. Starting at 6:00, get up and move to classic rock favorites from Southern Maryland stars The Copper Pennies. Join us for an easygoing, family‑friendly evening that celebrates community, good food, and great music all in one unforgettable place.
Date: October 10, 2026
Time: 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Live Music: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Price: $10 per car
Location: 44300 Sotterley Lane, Hollywood, MD 20636
Buy tickets in advance (ticket sales coming soon)
or pay at the door!
Attendees are welcome to bring blankets and chairs to spread out and enjoy the event. No outside food or drink will be permitted.
Second Saturday Family Nights at Historic Sotterley will continue throughout 2026 with a new band each event. Stay tuned for more announcements!
