Earlier this week, I wrote about pretty, bustling Lancaster, Pa., best known for its Amish heritage, but it’s a powerhouse in history, too. Lancaster was one of America’s first inland cities. A paved toll road made it a hub for travel east and west. Conestoga wagons were built there by the thousands. Thaddeus Stevens, the brains and push behind the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, was Lancaster’s congressman during the Civil War and a Lincoln confidant. Stevens took care of all things constitutional, but Lydia Hamilton Smith, his mixed-race housekeeper, ran his life as well as the local Underground Railroad.
The two embody the trauma and triumphs of the era. There’s a promising new history museum in the works in Lancaster honoring both and examining their times.
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