SOLD OUT

This program is sold out and not accepting a waitlist. To see if any tickets open up due to cancellations, please check back at the ticket link. Ticket availability due to cancellations is not guaranteed. Thank you for your outpouring of interest! Stay in touch for future History Happy Hour programs by becoming a member or joining our email list!

In August 1794, President George Washington sent Lancaster lawyer Jasper Yeates to western Pennsylvania. Yeates’ mission: to negotiate with a group of angry frontier settlers who were engaged in violent resistance to the new federal tax on whiskey, an event now known as the Whiskey Rebellion. Unable to find a peaceful solution, Yeates encouraged President Washington to send federal troops to suppress the insurrection – setting a precedent for the federal government’s authority to respond to political resistance with force. How did Pennsylvania whiskey almost ruin our great American experiment? What can it teach us about citizen protest and American democracy? And was the whiskey really that good? LancasterHistory’s Stephanie Townrow will lead a lively discussion about the Whiskey Rebellion over a glass of Pennsylvania rye whiskey or another drink of your choice.

Stephanie Townrow is the Director of Interpretation & Exhibitions at LancasterHistory’s Thaddeus Stevens & Lydia Hamilton Smith Center and a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Delaware. She applies a deep knowledge of early American food history to local history—uncovering the surprising ways that Lancaster’s history intersects with nearly every major event in the early republic, including the Whiskey Rebellion. In 2015, Stephanie created a large-scale digital project on the Whiskey Rebellion and has since continued to write and publish articles on food history. She has tasted many rye whiskies in the name of research.

History Happy Hour will take place on Thursday, December 5 from 5:30 – 7:30pm at Proof Lancaster, lower level at 30 N. Queen St., Lancaster, PA. Doors open at 5:30pm and the main program will begin at 6pm.

Tickets are $35/person and includes admission to the event, first drink ticket, and light appetizers. (Please note that additional drink and food purchases are not included in the purchase of a ticket. Proof’s kitchen will be open during and after the event for additional food and drink orders.) Event suggested for ages 18 or older, and individuals must be 21 years or older to consume adult beverages.

This program is sold out and not accepting a waitlist. To see if any tickets open up due to cancellations, please check back at the ticket link. Ticket availability due to cancellations is not guaranteed. Thank you for your outpouring of interest! Stay in touch for future History Happy Hour programs by becoming a member or joining our email list!

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Thank You to Our History Happy Hour Sponsors!