Civic Projects has been working in partnership with Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA) on the development of LancasterHistory’s Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith Center for History and Democracy. The Center is being developed on the site of 19th century Congressional State Representative of Pennsylvania, Thaddeus Stevens’ former home and law office in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Civic Projects has been working on both design concepts and programming for this proposed national center of learning. Programming and spaces in the Center are being developed to foster learning and open conversation around equity, individual rights, and inclusion.

In the course of Civic Projects' design process we collaborated with RAA, Infantree, and LancasterHistory to host several community engagements to gauge various levels of interest and community input for the Center. In our workshops we asked various community individuals about what they are most excited to see in the Center, what kind of impact the Center could have or they hope it will have, and how the Center can serve them and their community.

Stevens and Smith Center for History and Democracy