Thaddeus Stevens Society events on April 4 & 5
The Thaddeus Stevens Society has a full slate of events on Friday and Saturday, April 4 and 5, to mark the 233rd birthday of the Great Commoner. On April 4 at 4:30 p.m. the annual graveside ceremony will be held at Stevens's grave at the Shreiner-Concord cemetery at Mulberry and Chestnut Streets in Lancaster, PA, which will be followed at 6 p.m. by the Stevens Day dinner and membership meeting at the the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology at 750 E. King Street in Lancaster. The dinner is free to members.
Before the graveside ceremony, there will be a tour at 2 p.m. for Society members and supporters of the future site of the Stevens/Smith museum at Queen and Vine Streets. Please come to the convention center entrance on Vine Street.
Then on Saturday April 5 there will be the grand opening of the Annex of the Thaddeus Stevens Museum at 52 Chambersburg Street at 5 p.m. This will be followed by a presentation at Christ Lutheran Church, next door to the museum, at 6:30 p.m. about Thaddeus Stevens, the Emancipation Proclamation and the church itself.
The events on April 4th and 5th are as follows:
Friday, April 4:
2:00 p.m. -- Tour of future site of Stevens/Smith museum at Queen and Vine Streets.
4:30 p.m. -- Graveside ceremony marking Thaddeus Stevens's birthday at Shreiner-Concord Cemetery at Chestnut and Mulberry in Lancaster, PA.
6:00 p.m. -- Stevens Day Dinner and Society membership meeting at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology at 750 E. King Street, Lancaster, PA
Saturday, April 5:
5:00 p.m. -- Grand opening of the Thaddeus Stevens Museum Annex at 52 Chambersburg St., Gettysburg, PA.
6:30 p.m. -- Program at Christ Lutheran Church, 30 Chambersburg Street, Gettysburg, PA, about the church, the Emancipation Proclamation, and Thaddeus Stevens
If you plan on attending any of these events, please send a reply email to info@thaddeusstevenssociety.com
Thaddeus Stevens museum expands
The Thaddeus Stevens Museum is expanding into 52 Chambersburg Street, next door to the current facility. Called the Annex, the storefront will be used for a larger research area, more exhibits, tourist information, and a place for the sale of Civil War art. The grand opening will be on Saturday, April 5, at 5 p.m.
Exterior of Annex at 52 Chambersburg Street, Gettysburg, PA
In front window is stove made at a Stevens's iron mill
Inside the Annex is a giant picture of Thaddeus Stevens
Sneak peek of Stevens/Smith museum
The Lancaster Historical Society held a "Sneak Peek" at the the future Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith Center for History and Democracy in Lancaster, PA. The event was attended by hundreds of people who paid $200 a piece to support the project. While the structure of the museum is completed, the installation of exhibits is more than a year off. The $24 million project still has to raise $5 million. Thaddeus Stevens Society members and supporters will get a chance to see the interior of the museum on Friday, April 4, from 2 to 4 p.m. Participants are asked to gather at the Vine Street entrance to the Lancaster Convention Center.
Hundreds came to the "Sneak Peek" of the future Stevens/Smith museum
The event also had a display of Stevens's wig and grandfather clock.
Thad mentioned in New York Times Book Review
In the New York Times Book Review of February 23, 2025 about a book by Bennett Parten telling of General William Sherman's effort to distribute land to freed slaves, the last paragraph refers to Thaddeus Stevens's failed effort to redistribute land after the Civil War. It read as follows:
Once back in session, Congress "dithered," or so Parten charges, but that seems not entirely correct. Abolitionists like the Pennsylvania representative Thaddeus Stevens had already been hatching a radical plan to redistribute the wealth of the South: Divvy up the confiscated property and give it to the families of formerly enslaved people and thus effectively overturn the propertied class system that so long had ruled the region. Land ownership meant political power. Stevens reminded the House that four million people had been freed, but "if we leave them to the legislation of their late masters, we had better have left them in bondage. If we fail in this great duty now, when we have the power," he warned, "we shall deserve and receive the execration of history and of all future ages." And so they have.
Surprise at the Thaddeus Stevens Museum
You never know who is going to come into the Thaddeus Stevens museum in Gettysburg. Jackson Rickert visited with his father on March 1. Turns out Jackson had dressed up as Thaddeus Stevens for Halloween and had a picture to share. In turn he took a picture with Society President Ross Hetrick, who was portraying Thad.
Jackson Rickert dressed up as Thad during Halloween.
Ross Hetrick as Thad with Jackson Rickert
Leave a legacy for Thad
Support Thaddeus Stevens's legacy by leaving a legacy of your own. If you wish to include the Thaddeus Stevens Society in your will, please let us know by calling 717-347-8159 or emailing info@thaddeusstevenssociety.com. Thank you.
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