I love sharing stories and my research with others. I've been doing it professionally for the past 35 years and take special pride in enlightening others with the history of not only their current surroundings, but commemorating the individuals who helped create and shape the Frederick County we know and love today. 

Chris Haugh's
"Frederick History 101"
Class

Frederick, Maryland's 275 year-old story is presented in four classes by award-winning historian and documentarian Chris Haugh. Students will learn about the city's 1745 founding in the backlands of the Maryland colony up to its standing today as one of the top residential and tourist destinations in the US. 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, while enjoying this immersive experience within the confines of one of the country's most historic and beautiful cemeteries-commonly referred to in earlier times as "Frederick's Other City."
4 parts $79 
​*New session starts October 2024
Monday, Oct. 21st 12noon-2:30pm
​(10/28, 11/4, 11/11)
CHRIS HAUGH'S
"FREDERICK HISTORY 201"
CLASS
​A full overview and great deal of information was covered in the "101" class, but here in "201" things are slowed down a bit for closer inspection and discussion of events and individuals that helped shape the Frederick we have today. This course will employ PowerPoint slides, along with video clips from the "Frederick Town" documentary. Best of all, we will feature a special guest historian each week who will drop by for a "one on one" talk with Chris on specific aspects of our rich history. (Scheduled: Christina Martinkosky, Tee Michel, John Ashbury & Don Linton)
​4 parts $79
*Zoom Online Session Jan. 2025
"UNSETTLING TOUR"
​OF MOUNT OLIVET BY CANDLELIGHT
This is not a ghost tour, although we will talk about one or two. Instead, the name of the "walking class" says it all, as the stories slated to be reverently told are guaranteed to leave you with an uncomfortable and "unsettled" feeling. You will likely feel sorrow, compassion and empathy for the decedents whose graves are visited on our sojourn. Many have been featured in my ongoing "Stories in Stone" blog series found on FaceBook and 
​MountOlivetHistory.com.
Scheduled for 2 hours, the route will be about 1.5 miles in length, mostly on macadam roadways with occasional walking on grass to access gravesites. Participants should be 16 years of age or over as much of the subject matter is intended for more mature audiences. Restrooms will be available at the tour's intermission period midway through the walk. Dress appropriately including proper footwear, and feel free to bring a drink and a flashlight, or your own lantern. Rain or Shine (unless extreme weather conditions in which contingency plans will be made for make up tours). Parking and meet-up time/place info will be given later. 
2+ hour Walking Tour $16
(All New) 2024 Edition
Offerings:
Thursday, Oct. 24 @7pm
Saturday, Oct. 26 @7pm
Thursday, Oct 31(Halloween) @7pm
Friday, Nov. 1 @7pm
Saturday, Nov. 2 (All Souls Day) @7pm

"Frederick History 101"
Cemetery Tour of the
​1700s/1800s

Picture
This 1.3 mile evening walking tour of historic Mount Olivet Cemetery perfectly complements the content learned within Chris Haugh's "Frederick History 101" course. It features stops at the final resting spots of several individuals introduced in (Frederick 101) course lectures. This version will focus on outstanding citizens and events of the 1700s and 1800s such as Francis Scott Key, Thomas Johnson and Barbara Fritchie among several others, as participants will be experiencing the historic parts of the cemetery for this 2 hour+ experience. 
2+hour Walking Tour$20
*Spring 2025
PREHISTORICK FREDERICK
Based on the documentary entitled “Monocacy: The pre-history of Frederick County, Maryland,” this course will take students on a 1.2 billion year- journey to better understand and appreciate the cataclysmic events that shaped our present day landscape.  The course will also explore the earliest lifeforms from marine organisms, dinosaurs to native-aboriginal man. Bite-sized portions of geology, meta-geography, biology, archeology, and anthropology will be introduced in layman's terms within a multi-media presentation of video excerpts, powerpoint-lecture and touch object “show and tell.”
​3 parts $59
​*Next session in 2025​
"UP FROM THE MEADOWS: THE CLASS"
​It has been nearly 30 years since local historian Chris Haugh was inspired to produce the 1997 documentary/film entitled “Up from the Meadows: A History of Black Americans in Frederick County, Maryland.”  As the title suggests, this program includes an interesting study of Frederick County Black history through the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, covering the time periods from slavery to emancipation, and segregation to civil rights equality within a divided Maryland.  “Up from the Meadows” features an esteemed group of former residents as on-camera commentators including Kathleen Snowden, William O. Lee, Jr., Lord Nickens, Arnold Delauter and Dr. Blanche Bourne-Tyree to name a few.
Established in 1748, the north-central Maryland environs of Frederick County is a perfect case study for African-American cultural history, as it once represented “a border county within a border state” during the American Civil War, being situated below the Mason-Dixon Line and Pennsylvania to the north, and the Potomac River and Virginia to the south. Repercussions would continue up through the Civil Rights Movement of the mid 20th century.
4 parts $79
​*Next session in 2025 via Zoom
"UP FROM THE MEADOWS"/ BLACK HISTORY WALKING TOUR OF MOUNT OLIVET CEMETERY
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.
​2+ hour Walking Tour $16
*Next session in 2025

 "Frederick History 101" Cemetery Tour of the 1900s-Current Day

This 1.3 mile evening walking tour of historic Mount Olivet Cemetery echoes content learned within Chris Haugh's "Frederick History 101" course. It features stops at the final resting places of individuals introduced in (101) course lectures. This version 2 will focus on outstanding citizens of the 1900s such as Joseph D. Baker, Claire McCardell, Joseph Henry Apple, and Harry Lebherz among several others, and will have participants traversing the newer part of the cemetery.
​2+hour Walking Tour $20
​*Spring 2025
"INDIAN TRIBES, EXPLORERS and FUR TRADERS IN THE MONOCACY VALLEY"
Based on the video documentary entitled “Sugarloaf: The Quest for Riches and Redemption in the Monocacy Valley, this will be a historical journey into the "wild environs of today’s Frederick County as it existed between three and four centuries ago. This period encompasses the European Contact and early colonial period (1600’s and early 1700’s), and nicely bridges the pre-history of the region to the point of the 1634 founding of Maryland and European habitation over the next century. The course will explore American Indian tribes and European explorers and traders who once traversed the area that would later see the establishment of Frederick Town in 1745 and Frederick County in 1748. This course will be taught through film excerpts and PowerPoint-lecture.
​3 parts $59
​*Next session in 2025
​
FREDERICK, MARYLAND IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
​A decade ago, Frederick hosted several events associated with the Sesquicentennial commemoration of the American Civil War. Chris Haugh was involved with the planning of many of these while he worked for the Tourism Council of Frederick County. One project he oversaw was the production of an Emmy® award-winning film entitled “Maryland’s Heart of the Civil War." The documentary debuted in 2012 and was produced by MPT (Maryland Public Television), airing on PBS stations nationwide. In this 4-part course, Chris will offer a detailed recap of events that tied Frederick, both city and county, to the greatest political and physical struggle fought to preserve or destroy the young United States of America. Through the use of illustrated PowerPoint presentations, diary entries and anecdotes from newspapers/history accounts and clips from the “Maryland’s Heart of the Civil War” documentary, this course will explore the three major campaigns that came through our area and the direct impact the Civil War had on the local landscape and citizenry. The classes will take place in Mount Olivet Cemetery's historic Key Chapel. Class # 4 will consist of a 2-hour "Civil War-inspired" walking tour of Mount Olivet focusing on Civil War veterans buried here, along with local citizens of note.
4 parts $79
​*Starts Tuesday, September 10, 2024