Thaddeus Stevens Chronicles No. 20

 Gettysburg College students should learn about Thaddeus Stevens

August 2022

By Ross Hetrick

Hundreds of  first-year students at Gettysburg College trooped from their campus to the Gettysburg National Cemetery on August 25 to hear about Lincoln's immortal address. It would have also been the perfect time for them to hear about Thaddeus Stevens who played a crucial role in the history of the college and the nation. 

As a member of the Pennsylvania state house in 1834, Stevens got the fledgling college an $18,000 appropriation to build the college's first building -- Pennsylvania Hall, the college's iconic building. But Stevens's support of the college provoked a political firestorm. 

In reaction, Stevens said: "Let demagogues note it for future use, and send it on the wings of the wind to the ears of every one of my constituents, in matters of this kind, I would rather hear the approving voice of one judicious, intelligent, and enlightened mind, than to be greeted by the loud huzzas of the whole host of ignorance." This set the tone for the rest of Stevens's life whether it involved promoting education, destroying slavery or supporting women's rights. 

After getting the money, the college had trouble finding property to put it on. Once again, Stevens came to the  rescue by providing six acres at a price determined by the board of trustees. In turn, Stevens was put on the board, where he served for the rest of his life. 

Then in 1854, the college board shocked Stevens by considering leaving Gettysburg. "If the scheme you refer to be real," Stevens wrote a fellow board member, "it is an attempt to violate an executed contract with the people of Adams County and is atrocious." Stevens attended the next board meeting and browbeat the board into agreeing never to leave Gettysburg.

Besides his service to Gettysburg College, Stevens was also the Savior of Public Education in Pennsylvania, Father of the 14th Amendment and one of the architects of Reconstruction. 

Hopefully, either this year or in the future, new students at Gettysburg College will hear about one of the most important persons in their college's history, who was also a national hero.

Ross Hetrick is president of the Thaddeus Stevens Society, which is dedicated to promoting Stevens's important legacy. More information about the Great Commoner can be found at the society's website: https://www.thaddeusstevenssociety.com/