UPDATE: As of October 8, the livestream attendance option is now available! To register, please click the applicable link below in the “Registration” section.

Throughout its history, the United States has grappled with the question of who qualifies as an “American.” Citizenship was contested throughout the antebellum era, culminating in the Supreme Court’s 1857 decision in the case of Dred Scott which denied citizenship to all Black people, whether enslaved or free. After the Civil War, Thaddeus Stevens, together with other members of the Radical Republicans, raced to guarantee citizenship to recently emancipated people and to others born in the United States by introducing a policy of birthright citizenship in the Fourteenth Amendment. Though the Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed this policy in landmark decisions, it remains a contentious issue. On Thursday, October 23, Amanda Frost, an immigration attorney and law professor at the University of Virginia, joins LancasterHistory to examine the legal and historical significance of birthright citizenship for the nation, as well as its prospects for the future.

Amanda Frost is a professor of law at the University of Virginia, where she specializes in immigration and citizenship law, as well as U.S. Constitutional law. Her scholarship has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as dozens of federal and state courts, and she has been invited to testify on the topics of her articles before both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. Her non-academic writing has been published in The Atlantic, The New Republic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Slate, USA Today, and The American Prospect. Her book, You Are Not American: Citizenship Stripping from Dred Scott to the Dreamers (2021), was named as a “New & Noteworthy” book by The New York Times Book Review and was shortlisted for the Mark Lynton History Prize. She is currently at work on a second book on the history of birthright citizenship, which will be published by One Signal (Simon & Schuster) in 2026.

Registration & Additional Information

The event, “Dred Scott’s Daughter: Birthright Citizenship and the Meaning of ‘American,'” will take place on Thursday, October 23, 2025 in Freedom Hall A at the Lancaster County Convention Center, 25 S. Queen Str., Lancaster, PA. It is free and open to the public, but registration is required to attend both in person and online. To register, please click the applicable link below or call 717.392.4633, ext. 100 to register over the phone.

REGISTER TO ATTEND IN PERSON

REGISTER TO ATTEND ONLINE VIA LIVESTREAM

Note: Upon registering, you will receive an email confirmation that will contain your tickets (in person) or Zoom link (online) along with more event information. If you do not receive an email confirmation, please check your junk or spam folders before contacting info@lancasterhistory.org for help troubleshooting.

LancasterHistory is committed to making our events accessible to everyone. There will be an ASL interpreter on-site for the event. If you require an accommodation or service to fully participate in and enjoy this event, please contact Robin Sarratt at info@lancasterhistory.org at least 7 days prior to the event.

Attendees are welcome to submit a question for the speaker in advance online. Please click here to submit a question. Questions will be screened and select questions will be posed during the lecture. Please note that LancasterHistory’s Code of Conduct prohibits discriminatory or harassing behavior, speech, or actions.

Presented in Partnership with the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College

With Audio/Visual Support from Encore