Special Exhibitions

About Special Exhibitions

Special exhibitions at LancasterHistory highlight specific, focused topics in the history of the county. These topics range from the physical characteristics of artifacts to wider contexts at the county, state and national level of social and political movements. LancasterHistory staff and guest curators create special exhibitions. Previous guest curators included Lancaster artists, teams from local churches, and area collectors. All of our gallery spaces feature changing special exhibitions, and they rotate on a varied basis. Browse our current special exhibitions below.

How To Visit Special Exhibitions

Admission to special exhibitions is included with the purchase of a General Admission ticket or Gallery-Only ticket. Free admission for LancasterHistory members.

Below are the special exhibitions currently on display at LancasterHistory:

 

Open The Door: Baseball’s Color Line in Central Pennsylvania

Now On Display

A black and white image of a young Black man in a baseball uniform.
Keith Kelley began playing for the Lancaster Red Roses in 1951, pitching a no-hitter in his debut. From the Collections of LancasterHistory.

When Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color line in 1947, he toppled a barrier that existed nationwide for Black baseball players, including those in Central Pennsylvania. Open The Door, will tell the remarkable stories of teams like the Harrisburg Giants of the Eastern Colored League and men like Keith Kelley who integrated the Red Roses on the 100th anniversary of the Giants’ stint playing at Lancaster’s Rossmere Base Ball Park.

“Open The Door” will be on display at LancasterHistory in Stoudt Gallery from June 9 – August 30, 2025. Admission to the exhibit is included with the purchase of a General Admission ticket or Exhibitions-Only ticket. LancasterHistory Members receive complimentary admission.

 

Building Bridges: The First Japanese Embassy to the United States

Coming September 15, 2025

In 1858, Japan entered into a treaty with the United States and Europe, ending the centuries-long Tokugawa Shogunate that
had minimized Western influence. In 1860, a group of samurai traveled to the United States for the first time. There, they met President James Buchanan, First Lady Harriet Lane, and countless American citizens. In Building Bridges, we explore the bridge between the two nations through the gifts that they exchanged.

Building Bridges will be on display at LancasterHistory in Gerhart Gallery from September 15 through December 30, 2025 Admission to the exhibit is included with the purchase of a General Admission ticket or Exhibitions-Only ticket. LancasterHistory Members receive complimentary admission.

After Visit: Want to Learn More?

A hand fan with painted Japanese kanji characters and peonies.
A hand fan with the signatures of Matsumoto Sannojō, Osakabe Tetsurō, Hidaka Keizaburō, Naruse Zenshirō, Morita Okatarō, and Shinmi Masaoki Buzen-no-kami. From the Collections of LancasterHistory.

For more information about the Japanese Embassy and their visit to America in 1860, read As We Saw Them: The First Japanese Embassy to the United States by Masao Miyoshi.

To learn more about the connection between the Japanese Embassy and First Lady Harriet Lane, as well as the impact of the samurai on antebellum America, attend LancasterHistory’s Presidential Series event, Samurai at the White House: Harriet Lane and the 1860 Japanese Embassy by Dr. Natalia Doan on Thursday, October 9. Free reservations required. Click here for more information or to register.

Special thanks to Dr. Natalia Doan for her insight into this exhibit, and to Masao Miyoshi, whose research and translations of the Japanese Embassy members’ observations brought Japanese voices to the exhibit.