Events: In-Person Event

Latino History from Lancaster County to the Smithsonian

  • January 29, 2026
  • Tec Centro, 57 Laurel Str., Lancaster, PA
  • 5:30pm Reception | 6pm Panel
  • FREE | Registration Required

From food, sports, and the arts to business, politics, and education, Latinos have influenced every aspect of life in America and in Lancaster County. In Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian Institution is working to build a new museum, the National Museum of the American Latino (NMAL), to honor this history. On Thursday, January 29th, LancasterHistory will host curators from NMAL to share information about their museum alongside the work of local scholars and community groups who have been serving the Latino community and preserving its history locally for many years. In this panel discussion, we will explore the contributions of Latinos to the history and culture of Lancaster County and discuss the importance of including Latino history in museums and historical narratives.

The panel will feature Amanda Elena Brito and Robin Morey of the National Museum of the American Latino, Dr. Ivette Guzman-Zavala and Dr. John Hinshaw of Lebanon Valley College, and Ramona Rivera Navedo of Lancaster County. The panel will be in English and Spanish. 

This panel is presented in collaboration with:  

  • SACA is a community organization that uplifts and restores marginalized communities through human, economic, and social services, while supporting cultural identities. 
  • Crispus Attucks Community Center’s Young Professionals of Color Network is a free member collective where young BIPOC professionals can network and engage in conversation on social and civic issues.
  • Mennonite Life shares items and stories featuring the diverse lived experiences and faith values of Lancaster Mennonites and interrelated communities. Mennonite Life stewards a research library, permanent museum collection, and family friendly experiences at the 1719 Museum and Biblical Tabernacle Experience.
  • The National Museum of the American Latino is part of the Smithsonian Institution. The museum honors the dreams, challenges, and triumphs of U.S. Latinos, elevating those stories within the nation’s narrative.

Information & Registration

The panel will begin at 6pm and will be preceded by a reception at 5:30pm at Tec Centro, 57 Laurel St, Lancaster, PA. Parking is available in a large lot at the facility. In case of bad weather, the panel will be conducted virtually. This program is free and open to the public, but does require registration to guarantee space. To register, please click here or call 717.392.4633, ext. 100 to register over the phone.

Featured image photographs of Ramona Navedo’s paternal grandfather (left) and her maternal grandmother (right). Photos courtesy of Ramona Rivera Navedo. 

Featured Event In-Person Event Off-Site Event Panel

Wonderful Woodpeckers

Image of a man with light skin wearing a green shirt and outdoor hat. On right, image of a hairy woodpecker eating a suet log.
Dan Hinnebusch (left) and a hairy woodpecker (right). Photos courtesy of Dan Hinnebusch.

Join the Friends of the Tanger Arboretum to kick off the 2026 Nature Series with a presentation on “Wonderful Woodpeckers”! Dan Hinnebusch, ornithologist for Wild Birds Unlimited, will discuss these feathery friends, their habitats, and how you can attract woodpeckers to your backyard.

Dan Hinnebusch is the Area Manager and store Ornithologist for Wild Birds Unlimited in Lancaster, Mechanicsburg, and York. His passion for birds is built on more than three decades of recreational birding experience and a strong interest in the natural world. Hinnebusch has more than ten years of experience as a professional wildlife biologist and environmental scientist, including four years with Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Kempton, PA. Currently, Hinnebusch teaches classes about birds and ecology for Hawk Mountain Sanctuary and Cedar Crest College.

HOW TO REGISTER
The event, “Wonderful Woodpeckers” will take place on Saturday, January 24 at 10am at the LancasterHistory Museum & Research Center. The event is open to the public. Tickets are $10/Adults (18+) and Free for Children 17 and Under (must be accompanied by an adult). Friends of the Tanger Arboretum members receive complimentary admission, but should still register for the program. Tickets may be purchased online or by calling 717.392.4633. Advance tickets recommended as walk-in tickets are not guaranteed.

PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE

Membership gets you more! Membership to the Friends of the Tanger Arboretum not only supports the care and conservation of this local natural resource, but also gets you great benefits such as complimentary admission to Nature Series programs! Learn more about membership and sign up today here.

The Friends of the Tanger Arboretum is a member of the American Horticultural Society Reciprocal Admission Program. AHS Reciprocal Admission Program members may register for tickets in advance and must show a valid membership card upon checking in. AHS Members should contact Emily Miller, emily.miller@lancasterhistory.org, with any questions or to register for tickets in advance.

This event is hosted by the Friends of the Tanger Arboretum. The Friends of the Tanger Arboretum, a subsidiary organization of LancasterHistory, helps foster public interest in, and support for, the maintenance and development of the Tanger Arboretum as a community asset. To learn more about the Arboretum or to become a member, please visit the Arboretum’s webpage.

 

The 2026 Friends of the Tanger Arboretum Nature Series is sponsored by Pine Brook Farm, Inc. and Ever Green Tree & Lawn Care.
Their support enables us to offer these programs for the community and free tickets for children! Thank you for your generosity!

Family-Friendly In-Person Event Nature Series Program

January 24, 2026 LancasterHistory Museum & Research Center, 230 N. President Ave., Lancaster 10-11am $10/Adults (18+) | FREE for Children | FREE for Tanger Members
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Lydia Hamilton Smith and the World of Entrepreneurial Black Women in the Nation’s Capital

Lydia Hamilton Smith lived a remarkable life as the confidante of Thaddeus Stevens, but also as an accomplished woman in the years following his death. While many know Smith in relation to Stevens, she carefully crafted a life shaped by hard work, dignity, and egalitarian values. An astute businesswoman and an important figure in social circles in both Gettysburg and Washington, D.C. this talk will explore how Lydia Hamilton Smith figured among the circles of Black entrepreneurs in the nation’s capital.

A young woman with long black hair and brown skin in a white button down shirt.
Tamika Nunley

Dr. Tamika Nunley is the Research Professor of History at Duke University. Along with articles, essays, and reviews, she is the author of At the Threshold of Liberty: Women, Slavery, and Shifting Identities in Washington, D.C. which received the Letitia Woods Brown Memorial Book Award, the Pauli Murray Book Prize, and the Mary Kelley Book Prize. Her article, “Thrice Condemned’: Enslaved Women, Violence, and the Practice of Leniency in Antebellum Courts,” received the Letitia Woods Brown prize for best article in African American Women’s History and the Anne Braden Prize for best article in Southern Women’s History. Nunley recently released her new book, The Demands of Justice: Enslaved Women, Capital Crime and Clemency in Early Virginia with the University of North Carolina Press. Her work has been featured in The Washington Post, NewsOne, Smithsonian Magazine, Ms. Magazine, and Fortune Magazine. In 2023, the Librarian of Congress named her the Cary and Ann Maguire Chair in Ethics and American history.

Information & Registration

The lecture, “Lydia Hamilton Smith and the World of Entrepreneurial Black Women in the Nation’s Capital,” will take place on Thursday, February 5, 2026 at the LancasterHistory Museum & Research Center, 230 N. President Ave., Lancaster. A reception will precede the lecture at 5pm, followed by the main event at 5:30pm. The lecture will be available via livestream, but will not be available publicly after the event concludes.

This event is free and open to the public, but requires registration to guarantee a seat. Select your registration option below, or call 717.392.4633 to register over the phone. An email is required to receive the link to the livestream on Zoom.

ATTEND IN PERSON

ATTEND ONLINE

Online/Virtual Event In-Person Event Lecture Reception

February 5, 2026 LancasterHistory Museum & Research Center, 230 N. President Ave., Lancaster 5pm Reception | 5:30pm Lecture FREE | Registration Required

Annual Wreath-Laying Ceremony for Lydia Hamilton Smith

A historic photograph of Lydia Hamilton Smith, seated on a chair in a dress.Join us at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Cemetery for LancasterHistory’s annual wreath-laying ceremony at the gravesite of Lydia Hamilton Smith. Smith was Thaddeus Stevens’ housekeeper, a businesswoman in her own right, and also a devout Roman Catholic who was buried at St. Mary’s upon her death in 1884. Taking place on Smith’s birthday, the ceremony will feature the laying of flowers at her gravesite and remarks by community leaders.

This event is free and open to the public. We are requesting that individuals register for the event so that we may contact them in the event of inclement weather that may cause us to cancel the event. Attendees may register online or by calling 717.392.4633. Please register with an actively monitored cellphone and email address in the event of cancellations.

REGISTER TO ATTEND

Arrival & Parking Information

Attendees are encouraged to use street parking on the 200-block of Park Avenue and enter via the pedestrian-only entrance across from the intersection of Park Avenue and Shippen Street. This provides the easiest access to Lydia Hamilton Smith’s gravesite. (Enter Park Avenue Apartments at 255 Park Avenue in GPS navigation platforms and you’ll be just up the street.)

Attendees can also park inside the cemetery. If driving and parking inside the cemetery, it is best to use 401 New Holland Avenue as your destination in GPS navigation platforms. This will take you to the cemetery’s main entrance. The gravesite is on the opposite end of the cemetery from the auto entrance and attendees can park on the shoulder of the roads nearby.  

Accessibility

St. Mary’s Cemetery and Lydia Hamilton Smith’s gravesite are wheelchair accessible in that they do not have stairs. However, most of the paths, though paved, are cracked, uneven, and have potholes. Access to the gravesite itself is on grass. Spaces to park that are nearest to the gravesite will be reserved for those with accessibility needs.

Note that St. Mary’s Cemetery is adjacent to Lancaster Cemetery, but has its own entrances. You will not be able to access Lydia Hamilton Smith’s gravesite from Lancaster Cemetery.

Dedication/Memorial In-Person Event Off-Site Event Outdoor

February 14, 2026 St. Mary's Cemetery, 401 New Holland Ave., Lancaster 11am FREE | Registration Requested
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There Is No Candidate Named James Buchanan

An illustration of a crowd gathered around James Buchanan on the front porch of Wheatland. Men are tipping their hats and shaking Buchanan's hand.
An illustration of Buchanan accepting the presidential nomination. From Frank Leslie’s Illustrated News, March 14, 1857

In 1856, James Buchanan became the Democratic Party’s candidate for president, running his campaign from his Lancaster home. In response to the nomination, Buchanan’s colleague and fellow Lancastrian, Thaddeus Stevens, said, “There is no candidate named James Buchanan… Nothing remains but a platform and a bloated mass of political putridity.”

This President’s Day, join us at President James Buchanan’s Wheatland for a Special Subject Tour on these two famous Lancastrians. During your guided tour, you’ll learn how James Buchanan used Wheatland as his campaign headquarters to promote his candidacy in an age before modern media. The campaign not only secured Buchanan’s election, but secured local support of Buchanan as Lancaster’s president.

There Is No Candidate Named James Buchanan, a special guided tour of Wheatland, will be held on Monday, February 16, 2026. Tours will be available on the hour, beginning at 10am and continuing until the last tour at 3pm. Please Note: These tours are not our regular General Admission tours and may be more focused on a particular topic than a general history of Buchanan and the home.

Tickets are available for purchase online or over the phone by calling 717.392.4633. Advance reservations are highly recommended as tours may sell out and walk-in tickets may not be available, especially on Presidents’ Day. Members receive complimentary admission, but should reserve their tickets in advance to guarantee the tour time of their choice.

Register for A Tour

In-Person Event Tour

February 16, 2026 LancasterHistory Museum & Research Center, 230 N. President Ave., Lancaster Tours 10am-3pm FREE for LancasterHistory Members | $17 Adult (18+) | $15 Seniors (65+) | $10 Students (11-17 or College ID) | FREE for Children Under 10
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Picture This: A Historic Photograph Workshop

A black and white image from the mid-1900s with a woman and her two children sitting on an armchair, photographed by a man holding a camera.
Walter Hallowell (left) photographs Roy McCauley’s family for Darmstaetter’s Photo Supply House and then shows them the camera. From the Darmstaetter Collection, LancasterHistory.

Have you inherited a box of family photographs? Have you cleaned out a closet or your attic and found a few photo albums? Are you the family archivist? If so, this class is for you! In this workshop, you’ll learn about various types of photographs and photographic images, methods of dating photographs, and tips and tricks for preserving your family’s photographic legacy. We’ll include resources found both online and here at LancasterHistory.

“Picture This: A Historic Photograph Workshop” will be held on Saturday, February 21 from 10am-12pm at the LancasterHistory Museum & Research Center. Tickets are $20 for LancasterHistory Members and $25 for non-members. To register, click the button below to order online or call 717.392.4633 to register over the phone. Participants are encouraged to bring examples of their own photograph collections for discussions.

Register for Workshop

Class In-Person Event Workshop

February 21, 2026 LancasterHistory Museum & Research Center, 230 N. President Ave., Lancaster 10am $20 LancasterHistory Members | $25 Non-Members
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Review Club: Reading Nikole Hannah-Jones

A group of people gather around multiple tables in discussion.
A previous Review Club event held at the Stevens & Smith Center in 2025. Photographs courtesy of CAP.

“I see my work as forcing us to confront our hypocrisy, forcing us to confront the truth that we would rather ignore.” –Nikole Hannah-Jones 

Review Club is a partnership with Crispus Attucks Community Center’s Young Professionals of Color Network in which we facilitate safe and meaningful dialogue around the history of the civic and social issues that impact our communities. For Black History Month, we come together to discuss the recent work of journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones on the past, present, and future of civil rights and the law in America. A selection of Nikole Hannah-Jones’ recent work will be shared with participants to read or listen to ahead of the discussion in the registration confirmation email.

This inclusive event is free and welcomes participants of all ages and backgrounds who wish to engage in constructive dialogue. We maintain a zero-tolerance policy for disruptive behavior to ensure a respectful environment for all attendees.

Register for Review Club

For questions, please contact Starleisha Gingrich, Education and Programs Manager at LancasterHistory, (starleisha.gingrich@lancasterhistory.org) or Josh Hunter, Director of the Crispus Attucks Community Center (jhunter@caplanc.org). A link to the reading materials is included in your confirmation email. If you have registered and did not receive a confirmation email with a link to the material, please contact starleisha.gingrich@lancasterhistory.org.

Event Held in Collaboration With

The logos for Crispus Attucks Community Center and Young Professionals of Color Lancaster.

Discussion In-Person Event Off-Site Event

February 26, 2026 Southern Market, 100 S. Queen St., Lancaster 5:30pm Reception | 6pm Discussion FREE | Registration Requested
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Tree & Shrub Pruning Techniques

Image of an older man with light skin rigged up in a tree for pruning the branches.
Tom Kopf

Pruning is a normal part of garden maintenance, but it can be a source of anxiety if gardeners are afraid of pruning incorrectly. Master Gardener Tom Kopf will share his knowledge of tools and techniques for safely pruning trees and shrubs, while maintaining overall tree health, promoting growth, and preventing disease. If you’ve ever been afraid to take too much (or too little!) off of a plant, this is the program for you!

Tom Kopf has always enjoyed climbing trees, even scaling the 80-foot-tall Sycamore on his parents’ property in his boyhood. Tom graduated from Franklin & Marshall College and worked as an arborist. Later, Tom changed his career to risk management and continued to serve the Lancaster community on a part-time basis. In 2018, he became a Penn State Master Gardener and continues to spend time volunteering with several non-profit organizations.

HOW TO REGISTER
The event, “Tree & Shrub Pruning Techniques” will take place on Saturday, February 28 from 10-11:30am in the Carriage House at the LancasterHistory Museum & Research Center. The event is open to the public. Tickets are $10/Adults (18+) and Free for Children 17 and Under (must be accompanied by an adult). Friends of the Tanger Arboretum members receive complimentary admission, but should still register for the program. Tickets may be purchased online or by calling 717.392.4633. Advance tickets recommended as walk-in tickets are not guaranteed.

Note to Attendees: Weather permitting, a portion of the program will take place outdoors with demonstrations on nearby trees or shrubs. We encourage attendees prepare to be outdoors for a short period of time by wearing weather appropriate clothing for February.

PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE

Membership gets you more! Membership to the Friends of the Tanger Arboretum not only supports the care and conservation of this local natural resource, but also gets you great benefits such as complimentary admission to Nature Series programs! Learn more about membership and sign up today here.

The Friends of the Tanger Arboretum is a member of the American Horticultural Society Reciprocal Admission Program. AHS Reciprocal Admission Program members may register for tickets in advance and must show a valid membership card upon checking in. AHS Members should contact Emily Miller, emily.miller@lancasterhistory.org, with any questions or to register for tickets in advance.

This event is hosted by the Friends of the Tanger Arboretum. The Friends of the Tanger Arboretum, a subsidiary organization of LancasterHistory, helps foster public interest in, and support for, the maintenance and development of the Tanger Arboretum as a community asset. To learn more about the Arboretum or to become a member, please visit the Arboretum’s webpage.

 

The 2026 Friends of the Tanger Arboretum Nature Series is sponsored by Pine Brook Farm, Inc. and Ever Green Tree & Lawn Care.
Their support enables us to offer these programs for the community and free tickets for children! Thank you for your generosity!

In-Person Event Nature Series Program

February 28, 2026 The Carriage House at the LancasterHistory Museum & Research Center, 230 N. President Ave., Lancaster 10-11:30am $10/Adults (18+) | FREE for Children | FREE for Tanger Members
Get Tickets

Second Founding: A Symphony by D. Michael Wege [March 13]

Celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States and the grand opening of the Stevens & Smith Center with a showcase of classical music exploring the life and times of Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith. Second Founding, a powerful new work by local composer D. Michael Wege, will be performed alongside Aaron Copland’s 1942 work, Lincoln Portrait, and William L. Dawson’s piece, Negro Folk Symphony, from 1934.

Performances are available on:

  • Friday, March 13, 2026 @ 7:30pm
  • Saturday, March 14, 2026 @ 2:30pm
  • Saturday, March 14, 2026 @ 7:30pm
  • Sunday, March 15, 2026 @ 2:30pm

Join the Lancaster Symphony 45-minutes before each performance for a free pre-concert lecture.

Tickets may be purchased through the Lancaster Symphony online or by calling their box office at 717.291.6440. LancasterHistory is unable to sell tickets directly to these performances.

Concert In-Person Event Off-Site Event Performance

March 13, 2026 The Gardner Theatre, 725 Hamilton Road, Lancaster, PA 7:30pm Concert Varies
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Second Founding: A Symphony by D. Michael Wege [March 14]

Celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States and the grand opening of the Stevens & Smith Center with a showcase of classical music exploring the life and times of Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith. Second Founding, a powerful new work by local composer D. Michael Wege, will be performed alongside Aaron Copland’s 1942 work, Lincoln Portrait, and William L. Dawson’s piece, Negro Folk Symphony, from 1934.

Performances are available on:

  • Friday, March 13, 2026 @ 7:30pm
  • Saturday, March 14, 2026 @ 2:30pm
  • Saturday, March 14, 2026 @ 7:30pm
  • Sunday, March 15, 2026 @ 2:30pm

Join the Lancaster Symphony 45-minutes before each performance for a free pre-concert lecture.

Tickets may be purchased through the Lancaster Symphony online or by calling their box office at 717.291.6440. LancasterHistory is unable to sell tickets directly to these performances.

Concert In-Person Event Off-Site Event Performance

March 14, 2026 The Gardner Theatre, 725 Hamilton Road, Lancaster, PA 2:30pm & 7:30pm Concerts Varies
Get Tickets