On December 21, 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.

We have long valued our partnership with the Historic Preservation Trust, who has been responsible for the Stevens & Smith Site until now.  With this transfer of responsibility the Trust is placing the stories of Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith in the hands of an organization whose primary mission is well suited to share these path-breaking stories of America’s history.

The Trust has beautifully restored the facades of the Thaddeus Stevens House, Kleiss Tavern, and Lydia Hamilton Smith Houses, as well as unearthed over 100,000 compelling pieces of archeological evidence, many pointing to possible Underground Railroad activity. Its many dedicated volunteers enforced historic preservation easements, brought the site’s potential to the attention of the Lancaster community, and put in motion actions that saved the buildings, thus completing the first phase of the Stevens & Smith Historic Site, a cornerstone of historic preservation in Lancaster City and an engaging historical context for visitors to the recently completed Lancaster County Convention Center and Marriott Hotel.

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. And, as many of you are aware, LancasterHistory.org has been planning major enhancements to our 10-acre campus on the corner of President and Marietta Avenues since our merger in 2009 with President James Buchanan’s Wheatland, so, rest assured that all of our actions will be conducted in a timeframe that honors our current obligations and employs a business plan that protects the long-term sustainability of LancaserHistory.org as well as the Stevens & Smith Historic Site. 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.

On December 21, 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.

We have long valued our partnership with the Historic Preservation Trust, who has been responsible for the Stevens & Smith Site until now.  With this transfer of responsibility the Trust is placing the stories of Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith in the hands of an organization whose primary mission is well suited to share these path-breaking stories of America’s history.

The Trust has beautifully restored the facades of the Thaddeus Stevens House, Kleiss Tavern, and Lydia Hamilton Smith Houses, as well as unearthed over 100,000 compelling pieces of archeological evidence, many pointing to possible Underground Railroad activity. Its many dedicated volunteers enforced historic preservation easements, brought the site’s potential to the attention of the Lancaster community, and put in motion actions that saved the buildings, thus completing the first phase of the Stevens & Smith Historic Site, a cornerstone of historic preservation in Lancaster City and an engaging historical context for visitors to the recently completed Lancaster County Convention Center and Marriott Hotel.

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. And, as many of you are aware, LancasterHistory.org has been planning major enhancements to our 10-acre campus on the corner of President and Marietta Avenues since our merger in 2009 with President James Buchanan’s Wheatland, so, rest assured that all of our actions will be conducted in a timeframe that honors our current obligations and employs a business plan that protects the long-term sustainability of LancaserHistory.org as well as the Stevens & Smith Historic Site. 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.

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He was a white man. She, a black woman. He fought to deliver the nation from slavery. She likely was a conductor on the Underground Railroad. He fathered three amendments to the U.S. Constitution. She was a confidante who ran his businesses and home. Together, Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith helped create a nation offering equality to all.

It is up to us to tell their story.

Some 150 years ago, Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith helped put Lancaster, Pennsylvania on the map. They’re about to do it again.

What if you could travel back in time to the Lancaster of antebellum and Civil War days? What if you could hear U.S. Congressman and abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens deliver his famous speech on the Courthouse steps outlining his plan for Reconstruction of the South? Visit a secret “station” on the Underground Railroad that was very likely conducted by Lydia Hamilton Smith? Experience first hand an era that marked a turning point in America’s history?

We believe bringing their story to light will help fuel Lancaster’s renaissance, offer extraordinary resources to the city’s residents, and draw visitors from around the country and the world to learn about the role Stevens played in laying the foundation for the modern Civil Rights Movement, free public education, and freedom and equality for all Americans.

(1813 - 1884)
As Thaddeus Stevens’ supporter and confidante, Lydia Hamilton Smith played a major role in his life, and he in hers. A widow with two young sons when she became Stevens’ housekeeper in 1847, for 25 years she managed his home and businesses in Lancaster and also accompanied him to Washington, D.C. to run his household and to serve as hostess.

Their partnership afforded her the opportunity to gain the skills and social contacts that helped her later become a successful businesswoman. She eventually owned and managed a number of properties in Lancaster, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. – an extraordinary accomplishment for a woman of that era, particularly a woman of color. Her boarding house in Washington drew some of the most powerful people of the time, including members of Congress and foreign dignitaries.

Despite rumors and innuendos about their relationship, Stevens and Smith courageously continued their remarkable partnership in an era of strict segregation. Correspondence and third-person accounts indicate that theirs was a cordial and respectful friendship. He consistently treated her as an equal and with great deference at a time when most whites considered blacks inferior. In turn, she expertly managed his household and businesses, freeing him to pursue the landmark legislation that transformed American society.

As recent archaeological excavations behind Stevens’ home indicate, it is likely that Stevens and Smith cooperated on another very important venture as well – the Underground Railroad. A number of archaeologists who have visited the underground cistern discovered on the property have confirmed its probable use as a hideaway for runaway slaves. Ample documentation exists that Stevens regularly assisted black fugitives and paid spies to report on slave catchers active in the area. While less definitive information exists on Smith’s role in the Underground Railroad, research is continuing. However, the nature of their partnership, the proximity of her home to the cistern, and her connections in the local African-American community offer tantalizing clues.

(1792 - 1868)
Throughout his life, Thaddeus Stevens was an innovator who had an unyielding commitment to freedom and equal opportunity for all. He is considered the father of the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which ended slavery, extended equal protection to all citizens, and granted all male citizens the right to vote. Historians have recognized him as one of the most powerful parliamentarians ever to serve in Congress, and as a man who had more influence on his time than many presidents had on theirs.

Stevens was an early advocate for the Emancipation Proclamation. Later, he served as chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, and hence played a crucial role in Congressional funding for the Civil War. Following the war’s end, he was chief architect of Reconstruction.

Earlier in his career as a Pennsylvania legislator, Stevens had been key to salvaging legislation to provide for free public education in the Commonwealth – a model that other states quickly followed. His achievement is honored by a number of public schools that bear his name around the U.S. In addition, the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster, established by a bequest from Stevens’ will, stands as a living memorial to the principles he championed – equality and opportunity for all.

A skilled orator, Stevens abhorred unequal treatment of anyone – African-Americans, Native Americans, Chinese immigrants, the disabled (he himself had a clubfoot), the poor and working classes, and children – and he lobbied ceaselessly to gain the rights he believed were theirs in a free society. He fervently believed that America should be a nation where individuals could rise to their potential unencumbered by race, class, or other constraints.

While his views made him unpopular with some, he was revered by others. When he died in 1868, he was only the second national figure (Abraham Lincoln was the first) to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. His funeral drew U.S. government officials and foreign ambassadors along with common people and former slaves. Some 20,000 mourners turned out in Lancaster for his memorial service, and his constituents elected him posthumously to another term in Congress. He was buried in an interracial cemetery in Lancaster. The inscription he ordered for his tombstone bears witness to his lifelong quest for freedom and equality:

I repose in this quiet and secluded spot,
Not from any natural preference for solitude
But, finding other Cemeteries limited as to Race By Charter Rules,
I have chosen this that I might illustrate In my death
The Principles which I advocated
Through a long life:
EQUALITY OF MAN BEFORE HIS CREATOR

The mid-19th century was a time of upheaval and change in the United States as the country was drawn into a bloody civil war. Much of the history of that period was heavily concentrated in Lancaster and the surrounding region – not only because of the city’s location, but also because it was the home of Thaddeus Stevens and his arch political rival, former President James Buchanan. The two men frequently locked horns on the slavery issue. In addition, Lancaster County was home to a sizeable population of Free Africans whose lives were being impacted by the struggle for freedom.

Lancaster’s pivotal role gives it the opportunity – and responsibility – to tell the story of our nation’s battle for equal rights for all its citizens as reflected in the lives of Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith. The Stevens & Smith Historic Site can play a crucial role in helping Americans learn about and understand the events of that era and connection to the freedoms we enjoy today.

The new educational interpretive complex will also accord Thaddeus Stevens, a forgotten hero, the honor that he deserves. A household name in his time, Stevens has been allowed to slip from historic view. The center will redress that wrong and will also recognize his supporter Lydia Hamilton Smith, who was outstanding in her own right as a successful business owner and woman of color who bravely stepped outside the confines of her society.

Together, the two of them were far ahead of their time in confronting the racism and intolerance that divided America, and in reaching for a solution. Their early efforts to bridge that divide provide an important lesson and a model as we deal with the lingering problems of prejudice and inequality in our society today.

The new educational and interpretive complex will also generate interest outside the local region. Because of its emphasis on civil rights, equality and freedom, it is likely to draw visitors from around the country – and even the world. More than eight million people visit Lancaster County each year, and a recent survey by the Pennsylvania Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau revealed that an impressive 52 percent of potential heritage visitors to Lancaster County would be “very likely” to visit a facility that explores civil rights and the U.S. Constitution. An independent estimate indicates that the historic precinct would attract between 75,000 and 80,000 visitors each year. The economic benefits from such a steady stream of visitors would touch both city businesses and residents, and also help enhance Lancaster’s reputation as an important historic location.

Steven’s home, law office and a tavern he owned, along with boarding houses belonging to his free black housekeeper and business manager, Lydia Hamilton Smith, still stand just off the main square in downtown Lancaster.  Together, these four historic structures anchor a historic precinct that provides a tangible link to both Stevens and Smith and their fascinating story. These sites work together to explore the lives and contributions of Stevens and Smith, as well as the themes of the history of public education, civil rights, equality, slavery, the Civil War and women’s history.

Also incorporated into the complex will be an important archeological site that links Stevens and Smith to the Underground Railroad. In the courtyard behind Stevens’ home and the adjacent Kleiss Tavern, archaeologists recently uncovered an underground cistern that they believe was a secret hiding place for runaway slaves on their way to freedom in the North. In addition to the cistern, the archaeological dig turned up more than 100,000 artifacts dating from the 1700s through the present era, some of which will be displayed in the new complex.

All of these elements – Stevens’ home and law office, the Kleiss Tavern, Smith’s boarding houses and the underground cistern and archaeological site – work together to tell a compelling story about freedom in America. As a bridge between the past and the present, the educational and interpretive complex will connect Lancaster residents in new and meaningful ways to the city’s history. It will:

1. Provide a wealth of educational resources for school children, college students, families, scholars and researchers, and church, cultural and heritage groups.
2. Recognize and celebrate the diversity within our community that has existed since the community’s early days.
3. Provide role models – in the persons of Stevens and Smith – for working together across the racial divide to insure freedom and equality for all.
4. Offer natural connections to other historic places in Lancaster County including Wheatland, President James Buchanan’s home and LancasterHistory.org’s developing “Campus of History.”
5. Link Lancaster to the planned Pennsylvania Quest for Freedom Trail, which will link historic sites from Philadelphia to Gettysburg and beyond.