Group Forms to Save Thaddeus Stevens' Historic Properties

 

Immediately after attending Lancaster County Convention Center Authority�s early morning board meeting June 13, a dozen members of the audience gathered together to form: Save Stevens Sites Coalition.

 

With demolition to take place very soon on the historic Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith buildings, the group's goal is to launch a massive public outreach campaign with the hope of persuading the sponsors of the convention center / hotel project and the Redevelopment Agency of Lancaster City to hold off the wrecking crew until shortfalls concerning funding, the $28 million cost overrun and pending litigation can be resolved and the project is assured of moving ahead.

 

Thaddeus Stevens, the great 19th Century abolitionist Congressman, spent much of his adult life in Lancaster city.  Lydia Hamilton Smith was a prominent African-American contemporary of Stevens, perhaps the first black female to own a home in the city. Read the Smithsonian magazine article...

 

Within hours of its formation, a dozen members were handing out fliers and demonstrating  in downtown Lancaster, the first of six noon rallies scheduled through Saturday at Penn Square and in front of City Hall. 

 

Save Stevens Sites Coalition will use education and moral suasion to heighten public awareness of the importance of the Stevens/Smith properties as part of the city�s heritage with the hope that public outcry brings about a postponement of demolition work. 

 

Coalition member Thomas Despard said:  "The Stevens/Smith site replicated in its entirety can be a centerpiece for historic tourism downtown."

 

Pastor Roland P. Forbes of Lancaster's Ebenezer Baptist Church sees value in preserving Lydia Hamilton Smith's properties as well.  "Thaddeus Stevens was undeniably a great American. But Lydia Hamilton Smith has a lot of importance, too.  As an African-American, it is important that our children see people of historical consequence share their ethnic identity.  Lydia Hamilton Smith was such a person of consequence."

 

In addition to Despard and Forbes, founding members of Save Stevens Sites Coalition include:  Bruce Clark; Robert Field; Ron Harper, Jr;  Rev. Earl Harris; Christiaan Hart-Nibbrig; Lenwood Jackson; April Koppenhaver; Luis Mendoza; and Bonnie Miller.