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Buchanan's Loyalty Confirmed!
Archives News
Written by Heather Tennies, Director of Archival Services   

Buchanan's Loyalty Confirmed!

An exciting new addition to our archives is a letter from J. Ridenour, Jr. to former President James Buchanan regarding Buchanan's loyalty to preserving the Union. Mr. Ridenour's goal was to be "instrumental as far as possible, in satisfying the American people of the loyalty of their once, much respected President."    

The letter is a manuscript copy sent to Pennsylvania Governor Andrew G. Curtin on October 1, 1862 after Ridenour had interviewed the former President about the policy of the government and outlined their candid conversation. Mr. Buchanan emphasized three points: "That this war was brought on by the Southern Rebels": "That [the President] had done all in his power to keep out of the war..."; and "That there was no such thing as a Compromise with the Rebels..." Many Americans blamed Mr. Buchanan's administration for the war, but Mr. Ridenour supported the former President and wrote, "The further I proceed West, the general opinion seems to be that you are not a loyal man. My conversation with you yesterday and your own declarations to me were such that I am bound to believe you are a loyal man..."

This letter is a generous gift from Mr. and Mrs. Eugene H. Gardner. Primary resources like this document allow historians to research local, regional, and national politics within the context of the period and to study connections between Lancaster and national events. A full transcription is available on the Archives page at LancasterHistory.org.

- Heather Tennies, Director of Archival Services
 
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Cultural Politics

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My name is Rebecca Macy and I am a rising sophomore at The George Washington University in Washington, DC. I am an American Studies major with a concentration in Cultural Politics. I have a great interest in civil rights, immigration, and the American Presidency. With a love of history, I am so excited to be working in my hometown this summer with LancasterHistory.org, Lancaster County's Historical Society & President James Buchanan's Wheatland!

That girl has Moxie!

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My name is Julianne Petrillo.  I am a freshman at Lancaster Catholic High School.  I enjoy learning about history, so I am volunteering this summer at LancasterHistory.org, Lancaster County’s Historical Society and President James Buchanan’s Wheatland.  At the Historical Society I volunteer in the archives department.  I studied receipts from a store in Lancaster during the 1920s.  I learned so much about items being sold back then and was amazed at how old some of my favorite snacks were such as Life Savers, Oreos, taffy, saltines, and Moxie.  At Wheatland I volunteer for special events giving tours as well as helping dust the antique furniture.  I enjoy working at the Historical Society and Wheatland very much and hope to be back next summer!

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Faith McCarrick is a senior history major at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This semester she has been interning in both the archives and education departments at LancasterHistory.Org. In the archives department, she found herself creating box lists of manuscript groups that covered the history of the United Steel Workers Union in Lancaster and the writings of Jewish World War II veteran and journalist, Charles H. Kessler.  Read more...

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At the time of her internship Katelynn Stauffer will be a rising sophomore at Gettysburg College, where she will be majoring in History and Political Science with minors in Education and Civil War Era Studies. While interning at Wheatland she will be working on the creation of a new living history tour that will examine the war years at Wheatland.  She will be organizing volunteers and setting up a test run of the program for the public.

Diplomacy

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Alex Trimble is a senior at Elizabethtown Area High School. His primary focus of study has been in history and social sciences. During his internship at the James Buchanan Wheatland mansion he will be conducting research on James Buchanan's diplomatic mission to Russia.

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