Each year, Mountain Lake Park celebrates its founding with The Victorian Chautauqua on the weekend following the 4th of July. Performances, lectures, live music, and activities relive a bygone era that began as a planned community along the B&O Railroad.

As a Union border slave state, Maryland was not affected by the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. At the same time, it contributed ten thousand African Americans to the Northern war effort. In October 1864, Maryland directly faced the nation's most contentious issue by holding an election in which a new state constitution abolishing slavery was approved by just 375 votes, and went into effect on November 1. Dr. Goldman will present this remarkable story, including how the White soldiers’ vote decided the election, which made Maryland the Free State for all its residents.