Thaddeus Stevens & Lydia Hamilton Smith Center for History and Democracy

FAIN: BR-297117-24

Lancaster County Historical Society (Lancaster, PA 17603-3125)
Thomas Robert Ryan (Project Director: August 2023 to present)

Implementation of permanent exhibitions at the new Thaddeus Stevens & Lydia Hamilton Smith Center for History and Democracy, and a two-year Position in Public Humanities to hire a museum educator.

The Thaddeus Stevens & Lydia Hamilton Smith Center for History and Democracy will explore the lives of two influential, yet underrepresented historic figures. Congressman Thaddeus Stevens (1792–1868) was a radical legislator during the Civil War and Reconstruction. His advocacy helped spearhead the “Second Founding” of the United States. Lydia Hamilton Smith (1815–1884), a free woman of color and Stevens’ housekeeper, defied barriers to become a successful businesswoman. Her commitment to Stevens enabled some of his greatest accomplishments and reveals the role of women in 19th-century political movements. Located in the historic property owned by Stevens and later by Smith, interpretive content will explore their contributions while providing context for the significant events they lived through. Exhibitions and immersive media experiences will invite visitors to investigate issues of equality, citizenship, democracy, and racial justice in the 1800s and in the United States today.