Special Exhibitions

About Special Exhibitions

Special exhibitions at LancasterHistory Museum & Research Center 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 Museum & Research Center:

 Building Bridges: The First Japanese Embassy to the United States

Now On Display!

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.