Jane Lee was born in Bowie, Maryland in 1935.  She has 7 children and 29 grandchildren.  In June she celebrated her 75^th birthday.  As her only daughter, I wanted to plan an incredible birthday celebration for the matriarch of our family.

I talked with my brothers and we decided that a huge family reunion would be perfect; although most of us live close, two of my brothers are located on the West Coast, and they hadn’t been home in a couple of years. 

Even though I knew my mom would be pleased just to have everyone together again, I still wanted us to do something special.  So, I got to thinking….what would my mom want to do?

Marietta House

Before I go on, it’s important for me to tell you something about Jane Lee: she loves telling stories.  She spends her free time in the library researching local Maryland families; then she would regale everyone with what she had learned (although I think she always embellished a little).  I can still remember cold winter nights when we would gather around the fire and her chair, as she would share her newest story—these are some of my happiest childhood memories.

It was while remembering some of the more colorful stories that I had an idea….

Billingsley House

Since she was moved to an assisted living facility in 2005, my mother is rarely able to get to the library.  Instead, she now relies on newspaper articles and gossip for her stories.  I wanted to change that; I wanted to give her a weekend that would provide her with years worth of incredible stories.

I started researching; I needed to find local historical sites that would provide extensive information about local families and local history.  It was then that I stumbled upon Prince George’s County Historical Website.

Mary Surratt House

On their website, I found pages and pages of local historical landmarks all located in PG County—everything from technological centers (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center) to museums (College Park Aviation Museum).  My focus, however, was on famous family homes in the area.  I found quite a list to choose from, but I focused on the houses and churches (we are a very religious family) I thought my mom would find most interesting.

NASA Goddard Space Center

On the third weekend in June, my whole family came together to celebrate my mother’s birthday.  At the party on Friday night (held in a banquet room at The Comfort Inn in Bowie), I announced our plans for Saturday and Sunday: a tour of historic Prince George’s County, to honor my mother and her love of history and story telling.  Never before had I seen my mother at a complete loss for words, she was so touched that we had all come together to honor her.

College Park Aviation Museum

On Saturday June 19^th, the Lee Family visited three homes: Mary Surratt’s House (the house John Wilkes Booth escaped to after he assassinated President Lincoln), Billingsley House Museum (a plantation home-built in the mid-1700s), and The Marietta House Museum (where Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Gabriel Duvall lived).

On Sunday, we explored two churches: Dorsey Chapel (the center of the African-American community of Brookland in the late 1900s) and Mount Nebo A.M.E. Church (the adjoining school was the focal point for the African-American community).

Mount Nebo Church

Each site that we visited was meticulously maintained and provided visitors with information about its historical significance.  I was impressed at each stop—I had no idea that Prince George’s County had such an important and vibrant history.

I visited my mother yesterday.  As I walked into the study at the assisted living facility, I noticed that my mother was once again doing what she loved: telling a story (about Dorsey Chapel) to the little group that sat gathered around her chair.

Dorsey Chapel

This story is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.  Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.