Rooted Wisdom

Beech Works

5.0 (2)
SOCIETY & CULTURE

Visiting sites both well-known and overlooked, the Rooted Wisdom podcast reveals the people and places that shaped our history and considers how their stories continue to shape our lives today.

APR 30

11. Anthony Cohen: 1996 Walk to Canada

Pouring through the stacks and vertical files at the local historical society while doing research for his senior project at American University, Anthony Cohen “found” the Underground Railroad in Montgomery County. Runaway slave notices revealed escape routes, courthouse documents named accomplices, and slave narratives helped piece the stories together. His research led to the identification of over 30 points of interest in the county that related to the Underground Railroad, six routes of escape, and three safe houses—as well as an idea that would take him, on foot, from Sandy Spring, Md to Canada. This is the second in a series of two episodes that explore Cohen’s work, listen to Episode 10 | Button Farm: Hands-on History Experiment to learn more. Transcript available on episode webpage. Episode Webpage Show Website

25 min
APR 23

10. Button Farm: Hands-on History Experiment

Off a wooded road in Germantown, Maryland sits Button Farm Living History Center. A project of The Menare Foundation, the 40 acre farm tucked inside of Seneca Creek State Park depicts 1850s plantation life and explores the legacy of slavery in Maryland. Mecca and Menare president, Anthony Cohen, explore the farm to learn more about what makes Button's programming so unique. This is the first in a series of two episodes that explore Cohen’s work, listen to: Episode 11 | Anthony Cohen: 1996 Walk to Canada to learn more. Transcript available on episode webpage. Episode Webpage Show Website

25 min
JAN 8

9. The Harper Cabin: A Story of Continuity

Over the course of six weeks during the summer of 2025, the Rooted Wisdom team worked with a group of Montgomery County Public School students in the Summer RISE initiative. After listening to interviews about the Harper Cabin, the students visited the cabin with Tony to discuss the role of memory in our understanding of history. This is the fourth in a series of four episodes that explore the history of the Harper Cabin at Brookside Nature Center in Wheaton, MD. Transcript available on episode webpage. Episode Webpage Show Website

38 min
JAN 8

8. The Harper Cabin: The Harper Way

When Harper descendant, Faith Harper, steps through the threshold of the cabin that bears her family name—a structure that holds an important place in history—she sees “a home full of love.” Tony and Faith discuss what it means to be a Harper and the love that is the Harper Way. This is the third in a series of four episodes that explore the history of the Harper Cabin at Brookside Nature Center in Wheaton, Md. Transcript available on episode webpage. Episode Webpage Show Website

34 min
JAN 8

7. The Harper Cabin: Lineal Aspirations

In good practice historians rely on multiple sources of information to piece together the history of a building or place. Rebeccah Ballo, historian and preservationist, describes this standard as a three-legged bar stool; the physical, the paper trail, and the oral histories. Tony and Rebeccah investigate the historical context of preservation and how that last leg of the bar stool makes the documentation of the Harper Cabin so special. This is the second in a series of four episodes that explore the history of the Harper Cabin at Brookside Nature Center in Wheaton, MD. Transcript available on episode webpage. Episode Webpage Show Website

36 min
JAN 8

6. The Harper Cabin: Reenvisioning History

A one and a half story log cabin sits tucked in the woods at Brookside Nature Center in Wheaton, MD. Prior to 1976, this cabin was a two-story house built in the 1870s in the post-emancipation free Black community of Jonesville, MD. For decades, its true history went untold. Tony visits with museum supervisor, Shirl Spicer to discuss the cabin’s two lives and efforts made to present a more accurate history of the structure. This is the first in a series of four episodes that explore the history of the Harper Cabin at Brookside Nature Center in Wheaton, MD. Transcript available on episode webpage. Episode Webpage Show Website

1h 8m
03/29/2025 · BONUS

Bonus | Douglas Mitchell: Lives Loved and Lost

Tony sits down with Douglas Mitchell, Harriet Tubman descendant, to learn more after their visit at Ben’s 1o. Hear more from Douglas Mitchell in Epsiode 5—Ben's 10: Interrupted Connection. Learn more about the archeological work at the Ben’s 10 site in Episode 4—Ben’s 10: Fragments Unearthed. Transcript available on episode webpage. Bonus Webpage Show Website

11 min
03/29/2025

5. Ben’s 10: Interrupted Connection

On a biting cold mid-January day it’s a homecoming with no home. Harriet Tubman descendent, Douglas Mitchell, retraces Harriet’s footsteps along the wetland path of Dorchester County, Md. that his great-great-grand-aunt at one time traveled daily. This exact same path leads to the archaeological site of the Ben Ross Homeplace known as Ben’s 10. Douglas leads Tony on a rare opportunity to connect with what’s left of Harriet’s landscape. Hear more from Douglass Mitchell in the Epsiode 5 Bonus—Douglas Mitchell: Lives Loved and Lost. Learn more about the archeological work at the Ben’s 10 site in Episode 4—Ben’s 10: Fragments Unearthed. Transcript available on episode webpage. Episode Webpage Show Website

42 min
03/29/2025

4. Ben’s 10: Fragments Unearthed

800 holes dug and a coin from 1808 serves as a beacon to keep digging for Ben’s 10, the homeplace of Harriet Tubman’s father, Ben Ross. Tony sits down with archeologist Julie Schablitsky, to examine unearthed artifacts that could shed light on the early life of Harriet and her family. Hear from Harriet Tubman descendant, Douglas Mitchell about his experience at Ben’s 10 in Epsiode 5—Ben's 10: Interrupted Connection, and Epsiode 5 Bonus—Douglas Mitchell: Lives Loved and Lost. Transcript available on episode webpage. Episode Webpage Show Website

55 min
09/06/2024

3. Adkins Arboretum: What Remains

Tony and David Greaves, a biologist, nature photographer, and founder of Nature Under Your Nose, look and listen to the birds of the forest. David discusses his interest in nature from an early age and shares barriers he faces being Black in the outdoors. Together they examine first hand accounts of freedom seekers describing nature and drawing on David’s experience as a biologist and photographer look to see what still remains in the landscape. Part 3 of a 3 part series at Adkins Arboretum focused on how this history and our experiences today converge in nature. Transcript available on episode webpage. Episode Webpage Show Website

40 min
09/06/2024

2. Adkins Arboretum: The Nature of Sacrifice

Tony is joined by Atiya Wells, founder and executive director of Backyard Basecamp in Baltimore, whose mission is to reconnect Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to land and nature. Atiya herself is a naturalist, certified wildlife tracker and certified in wilderness first aid. Through the landscape Tony and Atiya explore how knowledge and the connection to nature was passed down through the generations, and examine the supreme amount of sacrifice in those efforts. Part 2 of a 3 part series at Adkins Arboretum focused on how this history and our experiences today converge in nature. Transcript available on episode webpage. Episode Webpage Show Website

45 min
09/06/2024

1. Adkins Arboretum: What It Means

Tony and Baltimore-based filmmaker Mecca Lewis head into the woods to discuss freedom seekers that used their knowledge of the landscape to aid in their liberation. Before descending into the forest, they talk about what it means to interpret this history, what Americans generally understand about the Underground Railroad, and the emergence of a more accurate accounting of this history. Part 1 of a 3 part series at Adkins Arboretum focused on how this history and our experiences today converge in nature. Transcript available on episode webpage. Episode Webpage Show Website

47 min

12 Episodes

5

out of 5

2 Ratings

Visiting sites both well-known and overlooked, the Rooted Wisdom podcast reveals the people and places that shaped our history and considers how their stories continue to shape our lives today.

Creator

Beech Works
Years Active

2024 - 2026
Episodes

12
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© Beech Works, Inc.
Show Website

Rooted Wisdom

Politics

Politics

Updated Semiweekly