Community Calendar
The Community Calendar
A central part of LancasterHistory’s mission is to support the needs and interests of history-oriented organizations in our region and to bring into greater focus the extraordinary opportunities for learners of all ages to experience America’s past in Lancaster County and the surrounding region. LancasterHistory is proud to provide this Community Calendar to highlight upcoming events of history-focused institutions and organizations. Looking for LancasterHistory’s main events calendar? View events calendar.
How To Submit An Event
If you are an authorized representative of a Lancaster County-based, history-focused institution or organization, please fill out our Community Calendar Submission form to submit your event for inclusion on this webpage. Before submitting, however, we highly recommend you review our Community Calendar Guidelines [PDF, 217kb]. A LancasterHistory staff member moderates this Community Calendar. Questions about this calendar can be directed to info@lancasterhistory.org. Submit Event to Community Calendar COMMUNITY CALENDAR GUIDELINES [PDF, 217KB]
Calendar Guidelines & Disclaimers
Each submission will be reviewed and must be in compliance with our Community Calendar Guidelines [PDF, 217kb]. LancasterHistory will do its best to make sure all information on this calendar is correct and up-to-date. Despite our efforts, some information may be incorrect or may have been submitted incorrectly to us. We apologize for any inconvenience. Listings below may contain URLs to other organizations’ or institutions’ websites or ticketing pages, or other third-party URLs. These URLs do not constitute official endorsement on behalf of LancasterHistory and are for informational purposes only. LancasterHistory is not responsible for those URLs, the content found on those webpages being linked to, or those website’s privacy policies and policies on collecting data.
America250 Family Day
Who: Historic Rock Ford
When: Sunday, June 7 | 10am-4pm
Where: 881 Rockford Road, Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17602
Cost: Event is free but registration is requested for planning purposes.
Join us for family friendly America250 activities during this free event at Historic Rock Ford including:
- Crafts
- Themed activities in the General Edward Hand Mansion and “Lancaster’s Revolutionaries” Exhibit in the Snyder Gallery
- Interact with living historians including:
1st Rhode Island Regiment
Leslie Bramlett as Hannah Till
Historical cricket games with Tom Melville
Concessions will be available. All proceeds benefit Historic Rock Ford.
Event is rain or shine. Find out more information at https://www.historicrockford.org/
Leaders & Liberators: Harriet Tubman and Her Columbia Connections 
Who: The African American Historical Society of South Central Pennsylvania
When: Sunday, June 21 | 5pm-7:30pm
Where: Saint Paul Episcopal Church, 340 Locust Street, Columbia, PA
Cost: Accepting $25 Donation
A dramatic reading of an original script, Leaders and Liberators portrays an imagined meeting on July 4, 1872 in Cape May, New Jersey between Harriet Tubman and two abolitionist allies from Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the Reverend Stephen Smith and William Whipper. These three influential leaders of the Underground Railroad movement were courageous conductors and agents who led hundreds to freedom through the anti-slavery network of the Underground Railroad, from the 1830s through the 1850s.
Portraying Harriet Tubman will be Raquel Richardson. The part of William Whipper will be presented by the Reverend Eric Jackson. Nelson Polite, Jr. will portray Reverend Stephen Smith. Accomplished actors in period theatre, the trio will present a historically informed script authored by Lancaster historian Randolph Harris and his wife, the Reverend Martha Harris, Rector, Saint Paul Episcopal Church, Columbia, Pennsylvania. The Reverend Dr. Patricia S. McAllister, retired pastor of Mt. Zion AME Church in Columbia, will serve as the Interlocutor who will set the period scene and introduce the presenters. Reverends McAllister and Jackson will facilitate a post-production dialogue with the actors.
The event is sponsored by the African American Historical Society of South Central Pennsylvania, the Underground Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, the Stephen Smith Community Development and Multicultural Center, and Saint Paul Episcopal Church.
“The Bonde-Smith Incident – A spark of resistance in Columbia, 1804 and the continuing Quest for Freedom”
Who: Millersville Area Historical Society
When: Saturday, June 13 | 9am-10:30am
Where:100 Municipal Drive, Millersville, PA
Cost: Free & Open to the Public
The Millersville Area Historical Society invites the public to its next presentation, titled “The Boude-Smith Incident – A spark of resistance in Columbia, 1804 and the continuing Quest for Freedom,” which is set for 9 a.m. Saturday, June 13, in the Millersville Borough Administration and Police Building, 100 Municipal Drive. The speaker will be Randy J. Harris, independent consulting historian and Education and Outreach Associate with LancasterHistory.
The resistance against slavery in Columbia and beyond can be traced, according to historians, to an event on Front Street in Columbia in 1804. There, on that day, the family of Revolutionary War Major Thomas Boude and their young indentured servant, Stephen Smith, successfully resisted the attempted kidnapping and removal of Smith’s enslaved mother. Stephen was about eight years old and his mother, Nance, was about 35. Harris will expand on the Incident in his PowerPoint presentation and entertain questions at its conclusion.
Harris has more than 35 years of experience in historic preservation and community development. His work with LancasterHistory focuses on research and community outreach in connection with the Thaddeus Stevens & Lydia Hamilton Smith Center for History & Democracy–a project he helped launch in 2000 when he served as Executive Director of the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County.
Admission is free. For more info, contact Phil Gerber at 717.872.8837 before noon or at pge8507@aol.com.
1776 America’s Prize
Who: Historic Rock Ford
When: Sunday, June 28 | 4pm-7pm
Where: 881 Rockford Road, Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17602
Cost: Registration Required | $35 for reserved seating and $15 for-bring-your-own-chair seating
Historic Rock Ford and War of the Roses Theatre Company are very excited to present “1776” America’s Prize-Winning Musical with music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards and book by Peter Stone. Performances will be on June 28 at 4 PM and June 29-30 and July 1 and 7 PM.
Experience history through this award-winning musical that highlights the Founding Fathers as humans trying against all odds to create a new nation. Join Historic Rock Ford for this once-in-a-generation performance that is being performed at the home of Revolutionary War General Edward Hand on the exact 250th anniversary of when the Continental Congress debated independence in Philadelphia.
The show is directed by Jamie Hilton and features a stellar cast of 26 local actors
“1776” is presented through a special arrangement with Music Theater International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.mtishows.com Based on an original concept by Sherman Edwards. Original Production Directed by Peter Hunt and originally produced on the Broadway Stage by Stuart Ostrow.
The performance area will open 45 minutes prior to the start time.
Concessions will be available for purchase with proceeds benefiting Historic Rock Ford.
Ticket cost: $35 for reserved seating and $15 for-bring-your-own-chair seating
Celebrate America250 at Historic Rock Ford
Who: Historic Rock Ford
When: Thursday, July 2 & Friday, July 3 | 10am-4pm
Where: 881 Rockford Road, Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17602
Cost: Free | Registration is recommended for planning purposes
Celebrate America’s 250th Birthday at Historic Rock Ford! Our two-day celebration on July 2 and 3 will offer various free, fun, and educational activities throughout the day, including:
- Live musicians
- Self-guided tours of the circa 1794 General Hand Mansion
- Living Historians and Sutlers, both military and civilian around the grounds
- Lancaster’s Revolutionaries exhibit in the Snyder Gallery
- Open Hearth Cooking Demonstrations
- Children’s scavenger hunt
- Period dance demonstrations
- And more!
This event is free, but registration is recommended for planning purposes. This event is rain or shine. Find out more information at https://www.historicrockford.org/
The Revolution’s Last Men: The Soldiers Behind the Photographs
Who: Historic Rock Ford
When: Wednesday, July 15 | 6:30pm-8:30pm
Where: 881 Rockford Road, Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17602
Cost: $10 General Admission
Historic Rock Ford’s Untold Stories of the American Revolution Lecture Series welcomes Don N. Hagist as he presents “The Revolution’s Last Men: The Soldiers Behind the Photographs.” During a Civil War that threatened to tear the United States apart came the realization that only a handful of veterans of the American Revolution still survived – men who had fought the war that created the nation. Six of these men were photographed and interviewed for a book that appeared late in 1864. Their images have captivated generations since then; but, through a combination of faded memories and the interviewer’s patriotic agenda, the biographies accompanying these amazing photographs were garbled and distorted, containing information that ranged from inaccurate to implausible. Now for the first time the military careers of these men have been researched in detail using a wide range of primary sources.
This presentation will begin at 6:30 PM in the Langmuir Education Room located on the first floor of the Rock Ford Barn. It will be approximately 2 hours in length. Please note that admission is for the lecture and does not include the Snyder Gallery.