Thaddeus Stevens was one of the most consequential members of Congress in the nation’s history. Stevens represented Lancaster County in Washington during and after the Civil War. He was instrumental in the passage of the 13th Amendment to The Constitution that abolished slavery and led the fight for the 14th Amendment that requires equal protection under the law.

But before moving to Lancaster in 1842, Stevens was a trial lawyer, iron maker, public education advocate and champion of the Underground Railroad and freedom for enslaved people in Adams County.

An December 2023 article in Smithsonian Magazine was titled Why America Is Just Now Learning to Love Thaddeus Stevens, the ‘Best-Hated Man’ in U.S. History. It raises the point that Stevens should be recognized as one of the greats in Americans history.

Ross Hetrick is Founder and President of the Thaddeus Stevens Society, was with us Thursday on The Spark where he addressed the lack of attention Stevens has gotten in history books,"The way that history is taught in our schools is primarily about the presidents. And even though Thaddeus Stevens exercised power equivalent to presidents, he was a member of the House of Representatives. So for that reason, they kind of glossed over, those people in the House of Representatives and even in the Senate. Another big reason is that he was a target of what's known as the Lost Cause mythology, where Southerners after the Civil War basically rewrote the history of the Civil War, saying that it wasn't about slavery, was about states rights and that those people who led the Confederacy were heroes. And one of the things they also did was attack people like Thaddeus Stevens. Stevens has been in three movies. In two of them he was the villain."

Hetrick said the many historians Stevens pushed President Abraham Lincoln toward several of his most significant accomplishments,"The Union was blessed with two political geniuses. One was Abraham Lincoln and the other one was Stevens. And much of Abraham Lincoln's genius was that he listened to Thaddeus Stevens. At the beginning of the war, Lincoln was against ending slavery in the South. He was against the expansion of slavery. But he told anybody that would listen that he did not intend to end slavery in some states. And he also, let it be known that he was not going to use Black soldiers. Those are two positions that Stevens had from the beginning. And he basically kept pestering Lincoln until he adopted those positions. So you could actually say, in fact, contemporaries likened it to Thaddeus Stevens going through the field, removing the trees and the boulders, with Lincoln following behind him, sowing the seeds of freedom."

Before being elected to Congress, Stevens was a Pennsylvania state legislator where his legacy may be that he saved public education,"Pennsylvania was a pioneer in public education, and they actually passed the Public Education Act in 1834. But with public education comes higher taxes, which caused a taxpayer revolt in Pennsylvania. And most of the legislators, who returned (to Harrisburg) in 1835, were pledged to repeal public education. And, in fact, the state Senate, met first and voted to repeal public education. Then all came over the House where Thaddeus Stevens, was a powerhouse. And he made a stirring speech where he urged his fellow legislators to build, "not monuments of brass or marble, but of every living mind" that they passed a stronger public education bill, which then was approved by the Senate, which had just previously repealed it. So yeah, he is he is known as the savior of public education. And late in his life he considered that to be, perhaps the best thing he ever accomplished. And he said he would be amply rewarded if a student of the public education system shed a tear on his grave."

The first stand alone museum dedicated to Stevens -- The Thaddeus Steven Society Museum -- opened last week at 46 Chambersburg Street in downtown Gettysburg. it is free to the public.

Another museum -- The Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith Center for History and Democracy -- will open in Lancaster next year.

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