Thaddeus Stevens Chronicles, No. 22

 Thaddeus Stevens Society dedicated to collecting and preserving Stevens artifacts

October 2022

By Ross Hetrick

One of the most important missions of the Thaddeus Stevens Society is to collect and preserve items related to Stevens and his fight for freedom and equality.

In its 22 years of existence, the Society has amassed a nice collection of letters, period newspapers, postcards, books, stoves made at iron mills owned by Stevens and even music  to honor Stevens. And you can see these items at a meeting of the Thaddeus Stevens Society on Sunday, November 6, at 1 p.m. in Gettysburg. There will also be a walking tour of Stevens sights in Gettysburg. If you'd like to attend this meeting, which includes a potluck lunch, please email info@thaddeusstevenssociety.com

While books about famous people are important, we also yearn to visit places where these celebrated individuals lived and breathed. Millions of people a year flock to places like Mount Vernon, Monticello, Wheatland and even Graceland. But despite Stevens's oversized importance to American history, there were no places for admirers to visit for more than a hundred years.

This started to change in the 1990s when the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster established its archives room in the college's  library, which featured a variety of Stevens artifacts, including his bed, his clubfoot boot along with letters and newspaper articles about him.

The Seminary Ridge Museum and Education Center in Gettysburg, which opened in 2013, also has a variety of exhibits about Stevens. This will be supplemented in 2023 when the new Adams County Historical Society museum opens. It will include an exhibit specifically about Thaddeus Stevens and his relation to Gettysburg and the surrounding Adams County.

But the really big event is still more than a year or two in the future. That will be when Stevens's house in Lancaster at the corner of Queen and Vine Streets is finally completed after more than 20 years of waiting.

Neglected for over a hundred years, the house was slated to be demolished in 2000 to make way for the Lancaster Convention Center. But Lancaster preservationists were able to save it and restore its exterior to its 1860s appearance. But after fixing up the outside, the effort was put on hold for a decade as other projects took precedence. Now planning and fundraising are in full swing and the multi-million dollar project promises to give the most comprehensive telling of Stevens career and fight for freedom and equality.  

In the meantime, the Thaddeus Stevens Society's collection remains in a residential house with only a few people seeing it. Perhaps some of the artifacts will end up at the Lancaster museum or at other locations that tell the Stevens story. But one thing is certain, the Society will continue to collect Stevens items and press for a Thaddeus Stevens mecca that can be visited by all the Stevens pilgrims. 

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/