The Great Commoner Volume 9, No. 1                 thaddeusstevenssociety.com                      Spring 2007

Thaddeus Stevens Society Donates $1,000 To Statue Project

The Society on April 4 donated $1,000 towards the erection of the first time ever statue of Thaddeus Stevens at the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology. The donation was made as part of Stevens’s 215th birthday observance, which included a production of  Thaddeus Stevens, The Play at Gettysburg College, a lecture by University of Oregon professor Garrett Epps about Stevens and the 14th Amendment, the traditional graveside ceremony

and a dinner afterwards. The Society is donating half of the membership dues for 2007 to the statue project along with additional donation made by the following members: Sylvia Gadient, Johnny Dague, Sam B. Biasucci, Alex Munro, Joyce Godwin, Carolyn Quadarella, Beverly Palmer, Brenda Alexander, Terry Hatch, Sally Nungesser, Jean K. Weglarz, Donald Rhoads, Ross Hetrick. Thank you all very much.

Professor Garrett Epps in front of Thaddeus Stevens's Grave in Lancaster

Society To Meet June 2 in Lancaster

The Thaddeus Stevens Society will meet on Saturday, June 2, at 11 a.m. at the Lancaster Preservation Trust, 123 N. Prince Street, Lancaster. Tim Smedick, director of the Trust, will give an update on the restoration of the Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith houses in Lancaster. This will be followed by a business meeting at Carr’s Restaurant, 50 W. Grant Street, where officers for the coming year will be elected. For a ride to the meeting from the Gettysburg area, contact Ross Hetrick at 717-334-5227. With many of the issues involving the Lancaster Convention Center now resolved, actual work has begun on the historic sites. The Trust has also established a new website at http://hptrust.org/ssmith/index.htm and has hired Gail E. Tomlinson to be the director of the project. For more information on Tomlinson, please click on this link: http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/203859

George Muschamp as Thaddeus Stevens and Erin Wilks as Lydia Hamilton Smith

Thad on TV

You can see the fabulous Thaddeus Stevens, The Play on ACTV, channel 10, on Tuesday, May 15, at 3 p.m.; Thursday, May 17 at 9 p.m. and Sunday, May 20, at 9 p.m. ACTV is on channel 10 on Comcast cable in Adams County.

Volunteers Needed To Staff Stevens Exhibits

The Society will be staffing the blacksmith shop at Caledonia State Park during the summer and the Stevens exhibit at the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology during its academic year. The blacksmith shop will be open from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays while the Stevens exhibit will open from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. If you are interested in helping on these projects, please call Ross Hetrick at 717-334-5227.

Get Your Thad Shirt and Cup

Stevens Quote: “He cheerfully pays the tax which is necessary to support and punish convicts, but loudly complains of that which goes to prevent this fellow from becoming criminals, and to obviate the necessity of the humiliating institutions.”

Show your Stevens pride with our new Thad T shirt and  mug. Just click on these links: Thad Cup   Thad Shirt The  Society also receives 7 percent of each sale.