Frederick, Maryland's 275 year-old+ story is presented in five-parts/classes by award-winning historian/documentarian Chris Haugh. Students will learn about the city's 1745 founding in the backlands of the Maryland colony up through its standing today as one of the top residential and tourist destinations in the United States. 

Based on his 1995 documentary "Frederick Town," Chris will lead a passionate exploration through the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries with colorful storytelling and an array of multi-media elements. Participants are guaranteed to gain a better understanding and appreciation of Frederick and past citizens. 

This course will be taught over 5-class meetings from 6-8pm. We will be meeting in the Key Memorial Chapel on the grounds of historic Mount Olivet where many individuals that will be discussed in this class repose.

You've heard their names, and may know parts of their life stories. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about four individuals who certainly shaped Frederick history as we know it. All were born in the 1700s and lived through the War of 1812, while having important familial ties to the American Revolution. Thomas Johnson, Jr. was statesman and Revolutionary War hero with a most impressive resume. Francis Scott Key and Barbara Fritchie have songs/poems written about them in connection with the American flag being attacked by an enemy. Jacob Engelbrecht, a tailor and former mayor, kept a diary of Frederick events and strong personal opinions from 1819-1878 (the year of his death). All four of these individuals walked the streets of Frederick, were fiercely patriotic and are today buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery. (NOTE: This course will be held at the Woodlands of Urbana Clubhouse).

This is a lecture class which will include PowerPoint, video, and special artifacts.

NOTE: Ala-carte registration opportunities are offered for each of the classes within this 4-part course. (Price break for bundle of all 4 when purchased together.) Please register using the individual registration links for ala-carte offerings.

Class 1: Thomas Johnson, Jr. Monday, April 27 ($30)

Class 2: Francis Scott Key Monday, May 4 ($30)

Class 3: Jacob Engelbrecht Monday, May 11 ($30)

Class 4: Barbara Fritchie Monday, May18 ($30)

Gov. Thomas Johnson, Jr.'s name adorns a local high school and middle school, along with a nearby "medical autobahn" (Thomas Johnson Drive). The one-time resident of Rose Hill Manor was a statesman and Revolutionary War hero with a most impressive resume including serving as Maryland's first elected governor.

(NOTE: This is an ala carte, singular offering, part one only of the four-part bundled series entitled Legends of Frederick. Others include classes on Francis Scott Key, Barbara Fritchie and Jacob Engelbrecht. For a combo price break on all these sessions, register under the special offering for all four classes for $100.)

This class will be held at the Woodlands of Urbana Clubhouse.

This bundle series of 4 different (1.3 mile) walking tours of historic Mount Olivet Cemetery features stops at the final resting spots of outstanding and interesting Frederick citizens. Four distinct themed tours: Frederick in the 1700s/1800s; Frederick in the 1900s-Present; Frederick Black History; and Frederick in the Civil War. These courses can also be taken ala-carte as well, see individual listings for the tour of your interest ($20/each). Participants will also learn the story of how this historic "garden cemetery" came to be in 1854, and its role up to present. Length: 2 hours and this collection of 4 different tours will meet Wednesday evenings from 5:30-7:30pm on alternating Wednesdays April 29, May 13, May 27th & June 10. Apr 29 Frederick Black History; May 13 Frederick 1900s-Present; May 27 Frederick Civil War; June 10 Frederick 1700s-1800s. 

(We will meet at the WWI Gazebo in the middle of Areas T, U & S. Park on the lanes radiating out from the gazebo. Turn left after entering Mount Olivet's fromt gate and parallel Stadium Drive as the white Gazebo will eventually appear to your right under the US Flag)

Participants will discover unique links to local, state and national Black (African American) history through visiting the grave sites of a collection of men and women buried in Frederick's historic Mount Olivet Cemetery--at one time a segregated cemetery before 1954. You will be pleasantly surprised with what you will learn.

Scheduled for 2 hours, the route will be about 1.3 miles in length, mostly on macadam roadways with occasional walking on grass to access gravesites. People of all ages are welcomed to attend.

Restrooms will be available at the tour's intermission period midway through the walk. Dress appropriately including footwear, and feel free to bring a beverage. (NOTE: If weather is inclement, this walking class will afford the opportunity to attend a make-up date.) Even if you didn't take the "Up From the Meadows" Frederick History Class offering, there is plenty to be gleaned here that was not featured in the four-part classroom session.

(We will meet at the WWI Gazebo in the middle of Areas T, U & S. Park on the lanes radiating out from the gazebo.)

This 1.3 mile walking tour of historic Mount Olivet Cemetery features stops at the final resting spots of outstanding and interesting Frederick citizens of the 1700s and 1800s such as Francis Scott Key, Thomas Johnson and Barbara Fritchie among several others, and will have participants traversing the historic part of the cemetery where they will learn the story of how this "garden cemetery" came to be in 1854. Length: 2 hours. NOTE: Walk-ups welcome without prior registration.

(We will meet at the WWI Gazebo in the middle of Areas T, U & S. Park on the lanes radiating out from the gazebo. Turn left after entering Mount Olivet's fromt gate and parallel Stadium Drive as the white Gazebo will eventually appear to your right under the US Flag)

Francis Scott Key's gravesite is a football field away from our class site in the Key Memorial Chapel! The pop-icon songwriter of the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key had a storied law career that included working as the District Attorney for the nation's capital. He is best know for writing the Star-Spangled Banner in the fall of 1814 in Baltimore Harbor.

(NOTE: This is an ala carte, singular offering, part two only of the four-part bundled series entitled Legends of Frederick. Others include classes on Thomas Johnson, Jr., Barbara Fritchie and Jacob Engelbrecht. For a combo price break on all of these sessions, register under the special offering for all four classes at a cost of $100.)

This class will be held at the Woodlands of Urbana Clubhouse.

The son of a German mercenary soldier captured during the American revolution, Jacob Engelbrecht was a tailor by trade, but is better known for his amazing diary. From 1819 up through his death in 1878, Engelbrecht chronicled everday life in Frederick and often offered his outspoken views on politics and religion. His surviving journal entries offer insight on town happenings rangiong from special events and accidents to weddings and deaths of townspeople. It has been published into bound volumes and serves as a key resource for Frederick research.

(NOTE: This is an ala carte, singular offering, part two only of the four-part bundled series entitled Legends of Frederick. Others include classes on Thomas Johnson, Jr., Francis Scott Key, and Barbara Fritchie. For a combo price break on all of these sessions, register under the special offering for all four classes at a cost of $100.)

This class will be held at the Woodlands of Urbana Clubhouse.