Collections
The Columbia Spy

colspy1832masthead

The Columbia Spy began publication June 17, 1830, with John L. Boswell as the editor and publisher. Twenty-year-old Boswell came to Columbia from Hartford, Connecticut, where he served an apprenticeship with The Courant. The paper was allegedly named "Spy" to reflect the strong anti-slavery sentiment in the community. Read more about the paper's early days in "John L. Boswell and The Columbia Spy" by Robert L. Goodell from the Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society.

What You Can Find in the Spy

  • Local, national, and international news
  • Vital statistical information
  • Marriage announcements
  • Death notices
  • Advertisements, including ads for runaway slaves
  • Political and legal notices
  • Articles about the African American community
  • Literary selections, including pieces by Edgar Allen Poe
  • References to prominent free African Americans

 

Educational Resources

Teachers: Use the Columbia Spy in your classroom:

 

Credits

  • The digitization of The Columbia Spy was made possible by a grant from the Library Services Technology Act, Institute of Museum and Library Services.
  • Digitization of the Civil War years (1850-1869) of The Columbia Spy was completed as part of Penn State University Libraries' Pennsylvania Newspaper Project. We extend our thanks to Penn State Libraries for their assistance in this project.
  • The Lancaster County Historical Society is a participant in the Lancaster County Digitization Project, a consortium of institutions interested in digitizing the county's newspaper and manuscript collections.
 

Community Stories

That girl has Moxie!

stories_Juli_with_Moxie_1_2010

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!

Parks and Recreation

Amy_at_computer_2010

Amy Noll is a New Hampshire native who graduated with her B.A. in History and Management from Gettysburg College in 2007.  She received her M.L.S. with a specialization in Archives, Records, and Information Management from the University of Maryland in 2009, and recently moved into the Lancaster area.  She has past experience working at the National Archives and is also a Civil War Reenactor.  In the Archives, Amy is working on the Lancaster Recreation Commission Records manuscript group.  She has found many interesting records about past recreational programming for senior citizens as well as records detailing the creation and acquisition of some of Lancaster’s most well known public parks.

Cultural Politics

becca

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!

Living History

katelynstauffer

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

alextrimble

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.

We'd Love Your Help

Help us preserve and promote Lancaster's history. You, too, can play an important role in keeping Lancaster's past present!

or Learn More »

find_us_on_facebook_badge

You can now follow LancasterHistory.org on Facebook!