Two Silver Spring neighborhoods — one historically Black and the other historically off-limits to Black people — will come together by lantern light Saturday.

Scores of residents will walk across the Talbot Avenue Bridge, which spans train tracks that separate Lyttonsville, a historically Black community, and North Woodside, where racial covenants once prohibited Black residents.

The eighth Talbot Avenue Bridge Lantern Walk is part of Montgomery County’s Remembrance and Reconciliation Month, which commemorates the 160th anniversary of Maryland’s Emancipation Day. The walk is one of several events designed to foster conversations about racism, including Montgomery County’s history of slavery and lynchings.

For over a century, Lyttonsville, founded in 1853, and North Woodside were connected by a single bridge. The Talbot Avenue Bridge was demolished in 2019 for Purple Line construction. The new bridge opened in May 2024.

Event organizers — the Lyttonsville, North Woodside and Rosemary Hills civic associations — encourage walkers to “be a light in the darkness” and remember the legacy of segregation.

Anna White, a North Woodside resident who helped organize the walk, said she joined the effort after learning about the history of the neighborhoods in a news article.

“There’s some very painful things in the past” which must be acknowledged, she said, so the neighborhoods “can move forward together.”

The civic associations want participants to bring lanterns of their own design, but will also distribute lanterns as supplies last. In past years participants have made lanterns from candles and jars and decorated their own paper lanterns.

The event will start Saturday at the Rosemary Hills Elementary School parking lot at 2111 Porter Rd. Walkers should gather at 5 p.m. for a short program. The lantern walk starts at 5:15 p.m.

A family-friendly reception at the elementary school will follow the walk, at 6 p.m., and include refreshments, art activities and music.

County Executive Marc Elrich and County Council President Kate Stewart are expected to attend.

The county’s Commission on Remembrance and Reconciliation is hosting events throughout the month.

“There are many terrible things going on in the world, and we can’t change everything,” White said. “But we can, in our own lives, shine our lights and try to make change in our local community and beyond.”