Networks of Memory: Exploring Research Collections in Prince George’s County

8 Locations | Curated by Heritage Area

This tour explores the small and local historical research collections found throughout Prince George’s County. This tour includes collections maintained by libraries, museums, and historical societies across the region. Collectively, they offer students, researchers, and historians a way to explore local and state history, as well as more specialized topics such as aviation, urban planning, and African American history. Together, they show how community archives help people connect with the story of the county.

The project builds on the early work of the Prince George’s County Historical Society and the volunteers and historians who created the Tricentennial website in 1996. Their efforts highlighted exhibits, sites, and resources that helped residents understand the county’s past. Since then, many of these collections have made changes that reveal a more inclusive way of interpreting history. As the country approaches America 250, this shift is part of a larger movement to share, preserve, and recognize the experiences of all the people who have shaped their communities.

This project shares how these collections have intentionally shifted over time and the reasons behind those changes. Reviewing the sites and collections revealed recurrent trends: moving beyond places and landmarks to highlight relationships, connections, and the people behind them, rethinking representation and access in the digital era. Each of these themes shapes how visitors and researchers encounter the past.

Many of these collections are small, and each faces ongoing challenges in making materials more accessible to the public. Staff and volunteers continue working through cataloging, digitization, and database updates so that more people can find, use, and learn from these resources online and in person.

This tour invites readers to explore how local collections preserve memory, expand understanding, and support a fuller picture of Prince George’s County.

When the Hyattsville Library opened its doors in 1964, it was home to one of four “Maryland Rooms”. These were small special collections dedicated to state and genealogical history. As one of the earliest branches, it played a key role in building the “Marylandia” collection to preserve and share the state’s history. When the newly rebuilt Hyattsville Branch Library opened in 2022, the collection…
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The Oxon Hill Library opened in 1967 on the site of the former Sojourner Truth Elementary School. It included a special collection named for Sojourner Truth, an advocate for Black emancipation and women’s rights. The Sojourner Truth Room began as a reference collection of literature by and about African Americans and now includes digital materials documenting the African American incorporated…
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Marietta was first established to preserve the early nineteenth-century home of Supreme Court Justice Gabriel Duvall. Initially, the site focused on the Duvall family, using the house, its furnishings, and its architecture to show what an elite Maryland household once looked and functioned. In 2020, staff and researchers began exploring the wider community of people and relationships tied to…
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The Prince George’s County Genealogical Society aims to collect, preserve, and share genealogical knowledge and information with both the local community and the wider public. As part of its mission, they maintain a comprehensive genealogical research library housing manuscripts, local histories, vital records, and other materials from Prince George’s County and beyond. In recent years, the…
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The College Park Aviation Museum stands on the site of the College Park Airport, founded in 1909 and recognized as the oldest airport still in operation. Opened in 1981 and expanded in 1988, the museum showcases more than a century of flight in Prince George’s County. While known for its display of reproduction aircraft, the museum also maintains a small research library and a collection of…
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The Frederick S. DeMarr Library of County History is the research collection of the Prince George’s County Historical Society. The library began as the private collection of local historian Frederick S. DeMarr and was left to the Society after his passing in 1997. Over time, the library expanded to include photographs, maps, newspapers, and manuscripts that document the history of Prince George’s…
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The Laurel Historical Society created the John Calder Brennan Research Library to preserve the history of Laurel. Housed in the Laurel Museum building, it holds documents related to the city’s neighborhoods, institutions, and residents. Unlike larger county or state collections, it reflects the scale and limits of a small historical library focused on one community.
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Acknowledgements:
Thank you to the curators, librarians, historians, staff, and volunteers who shared their insight and for the ongoing work they do behind the scenes to preserve and provide access to these collections.

Meagan Baco, Anacostia Trail Heritage Area
Kofi Bart-Martin, Oxon Hill Branch Library
Hannah Erickson, Hyattsville Branch Library
Barbara Hopkins, Prince George's County Genealogical Society
Luke Perez, College Park Aviation Museum
Donna Schneider, Prince George's County Historical Society
Karen Riekert, Prince George's County Genealogical Society

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