Stevens & Smith Historical Site

A Place in History: The Story of Thaddeus Stevens & Lydia Hamilton Smith

The Thaddeus Stevens & Smith Historic Project is of the utmost importance for Lancaster. Stevens, one of Lancaster's most noteworthy citizens, has long been neglected, and it is great that this prescient advocate of racial equality is finally being recognized, to say nothing of his great Afro-American friend, Mrs. Lydia Hamilton Smith, whom he always treated with the greatest respect.

- Dr. Hans L. Trefousse, distinguished professor of history at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and author of Thaddeus Stevens: Nineteenth-Century Egalitarian

Closer to Equality — Capital Campaign

In 2010, LancasterHistory.org assumed responsibility for the future development of the Thaddeus Stevens & Lydia Hamilton Smith Historic Site in Lancaster City.


This project lies at the core of our mission to engage learners of all ages and every walk of life about the history of the people, places, and events that shaped our County, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the United States of America.


Our plan is to proceed thoughtfully and work carefully to ensure that the future development of this site is viable from the start and sustainable over the long haul. In the meantime, we are already hard at work developing public programs to share the legacy of Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith through lectures, school programs, publications, and online resources beginning in 2011.




A Place in History: The Story of Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith

Watch video now (33 minutes)

LancasterHistory.org‎

Lancaster County's Historical Society & President James Buchanan's Wheatland
230 North President Avenue
Lancaster, PA 17603
phone: 717.291.5861
fax: 717.291.2251
Contact Us